The European Commission has approved EasyJet, IAG and Air France-KLM as remedy takers under the commitments that Lufthansa and the Italian ministry of economy and finance (MEF) made in order to take joint control of ITA Airways. In July, the Commission approved the acquisition of joint control of ITA by Lufthansa and the MEF, conditional on full compliance with a remedy package, including commitments relating to short-haul routes, long-haul routes, and Milan Linate airport. Lufthansa and the MEF had to make available to one or two rival airlines the necessary assets to enable them to start nonstop flights between Rome or Milan and certain airports in central Europe. They also had to ensure that one of those airlines would have access to ITA's domestic network to offer indirect connections between certain airports in central Europe and certain Italian cities other than Rome and Milan. Additionally, the two parties had to sign agreements with rivals to improve their competitiveness on the long-haul routes of concern between Italy and North America to increase frequencies of nonstop flights and improve connections for one-stop flights on each of the routes. Finally, take-off and landing slots at Linate had to be transferred by Lufthansa and the MEF to the remedy takers for the short-haul routes to address competition concerns at the airport. The two parties notified the Commission of their choice of EasyJet as the remedy taker for the short-haul routes and for the transfer of take-off and landing slots at Linate, and IAG and Air France-KLM as the remedy takers for the long-haul routes. Having now secured approval, Lufthansa and the MEF can implement the transaction.

The administrators of Regional Express have sold its 50% stake in charter operator National Jet Express to the other shareholders of the company. Proceeds from the sale of shares in National Jet Express will be used by the Rex Group to pay secured debt, the company states in a 2 December Australian Securities Exchange filing. The sale price was not disclosed. Rex held the 50% stake in NJE through its Air Partners subsidiary, and the other 50% is held by entities controlled by former Rex executive chairman Lim Kim Hai and his brother-in-law Tjoa Thian Song. NJE operates 10 De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s, seven Embraer 190-E1s and four BAe 146-300 Freighters, fleet data shows. It primarily operates on mining charter services in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland, while the freighters are wet-leased to Qantas Freight. In October Rex's administrators agreed to sell its air ambulance business, Pel-Air Aviation, to Toll Holdings for A$47.1 million ($31.2 million). Rex was placed in administration in July after sustaining losses on its inter-city jet operations but has continued to operate regional services and is awaiting court approval to extend the administration period to June 2025. Contingent on that approval, the Australian government will provide an A$80 million ($51.7 million) credit facility to allow the airline to continue operating and reactivate some of its grounded Saab 340B turboprops.

Korean Air has received final approval from the European Commission for its proposed takeover of Asiana Airlines as it races to close the long-delayed transaction by the end of this year. The carrier adds that it has submitted the EC’s approval to the US Department of Justice, which represents the final regulatory hurdle Korean Air has to clear to complete the deal which was first announced in November 2020. “The European Commission (EC) announced on November 28 that it has concluded its review after confirming Korean Air's fulfilment of all required conditions for the merger with Asiana Airlines,” says Korean Air. The EC granted Korean Air provisional approval in February on the conditions that it divests Asiana’s cargo business and increase competition on four European routes. On 28 November the Commission approved Air Incheon as a “suitable purchaser” of the cargo unit, while Korean Air has already ceded routes to Barcelona, Frankfurt, Paris and Rome to rival carrier T’way Air.