Virgin-Flybe UK airline deal gets EU clearing, to cede slots

European Union antitrust regulators cleared on Friday the $2.8m acquisition of British airline Flybe by Connect Airways, a consortium created by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and investment adviser Cyrus Capital. The final approval of the merger, whose details were made public in January, is conditional on the release by Connect Airways of slots for the routes connecting the English city of Birmingham to Amsterdam and Paris, the EU executive said. “Today is an important day as Connect Airways takes full control of Flybe,” said Lucien Farrell, chairman of Connect Airways. The merged company will now focus on expanding its regional network and franchise business in Britain and Ireland, it said. Under the deal, the consortium will provide a GBP20m bridging loan facility to support Flybe’s working capital requirements and up to 80m pounds of funding would be made available once the deal is completed. Brussels was concerned that after the merger those routes could have fallen under a near monopoly in favor of the Franco-Dutch giant Air France-KLM, which has acquired Virgin Atlantic together with Delta and the Virgin Group of Richard Branson.<br/>