CityJet boss Geoffrey O'Byrne-White will be hoping that fellow Irishman John Fingleton gives the green light to Air France's takeover of Belgium-based regional carrier VLM Airlines.
VLM is a tiddler in a European context but has a number of valuable slots at capacityconstrained London City Airport, CityJet's main base of operation.
If combined, CityJet, an Air France subsidiary, and VLM would control more than 50 per cent of the slots at London City Airport, a favourite of businesspeople visiting the city. As a result, Britain's Office of Fair Trading - with Fingleton as its chief executive - will decide if the deal can proceed.
Swords-based CityJet had a busy 2007, adding new aircraft to its fleet and building a hangar and flight simulator in Dublin.
It also announced plans to launch daily services from Shannon to Paris Charles de Gaulle, which will feed into Air France's network of long-haul flights. Take-off from Shannon is pencilled in for February 4th.
O'Byrne-White is in charge of the integration with VLM and said it offered a "great opportunity" for CityJet to expand. The two will operate as separate brands initially but CityJet is likely to subsume VLM over time, boosting its position as a regional player.
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