29 March 2012
The owner of British Airways is expected to win the backing of European regulators for its £172.5 million deal to buy smaller rival bmi tomorrow, insiders said today.
It comes after IAG, which owns BA, sweetened its offer to relinquish slots at Heathrow to dampen criticism from rival airlines including Virgin Atlantic.
IAG initially offered to give up 10 slots, but it boosted that to 14. Lufthansa, which owns bmi, has warned that bmi could be closed down if Brussels forced through an investigation into competition lasting months. The EC has set a March 30 deadline to rule on the deal.
