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"No!" to the merger of Olympic Air with Aegean Airlines said the Competition Commission, reported Imerisia. According to the Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for competition in the union Joaquin Almunia, the proposed merger of the two largest airlines of Greece is not beneficial for consumers and can not be accepted. The formal decision will be voted at the next meeting of the community and is expected to pass even without discussion, says the publication.

Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines together hold about 95% of the airlines serviced in the country. The two dominant companies signed a merger agreement at the beginning of 2010. Then, the merger had to be approved by the European Commission on competition to be finalized. However, the decision has not been easy and the Commissioner of Competition Almunia gave two extensions to make a thorough examination of the effects of setting the new mega-giant in aviation in Greece.

Meanwhile, the companies divided the destinations equally. Many European cities were left with only one flight of one of the two companies, prices jumped and passengers turned out to be at a disadvantage. An example is the Athens-Sofia line which was serviced by the two companies. Following the announcement of the merger Aegean terminated its flights to the Bulgarian capital and Olympic turned out to be the monopolist for this destination. As a consequence, ticket prices have risen.  

According to the rules imposed by the European Union, a company has a dominant position when it controls 40% of the flights to some destinations, while 70% make it monopolist. The Commission survey showed that the merger of the two companies violates the principles of free competition, especially in the national airlines. If the alliance between Aegean and Olympic is allowed, there will be problems in the destinations from Athens to Thessaloniki, Santorini, Chania, Heraklion, Rhodes and Samos.

According to the analysis of the European Commission, the "marriage" between the two companies creates obstacles to the development of a healthy competitive environment in the sector, especially at a time when Greece is fighting for market liberalization and to restructure its economic system.

The response of the both airlines’ executives was not late. Definitely, they were not satisfied with the decision of the European Commission. "A very important opportunity to further our strong presence in the European air transport was lost," said bitterly the president of Aegean Airlines Theodoros Vassilakis. He stressed that the two companies have repeatedly pointed out the benefits of the merger for both passengers and the local economy to the European Commission in recent months but they were not taken into account.

Quite offensive was the statement of the other interested party, the owner of Marfin Investment Group and Olympic Air Andreas Vgenopulos, who said: "The EU decision would have negative consequences for the passengers and for the national economy." Vgenopoulos’ comment was almost menacing, warning that he was not yet ready to give up and would decide on further actions after the examination of the final text of the European Commission conclusion.

European experts note that the higher airfares at the Athens airport Eleftherios Venizelos also stay in the way of low-cost airlines expansion. They would contribute to greater consumer choice and are part of building a better competitive environment. The high prices of the Athens Airport make it unattractive for low-cost airlines as well as the fact that there is no other airport with lower taxes within 100 km from Athens which would be an alternative for the entrepreneurs.