Mr Mario Monti, Europe's Competition Commissioner, yesterday met the chief executives of Air France and KLM in an effort to give final approval this week to the merger between the two airlines.
Mr Jean-Cyril Spinetta of Air France and Mr Leo Van Wijk of KLM met Mr Monti ahead of the Commission's deadline tomorrow to agree the deal or to open an in-depth four-month inquiry.
The Commission has long indicated that it supports the deal in principle as part of its general support for the consolidation of Europe's aviation sector. But Mr Monti would like some last-minute concessions.
His services have begun circulating a draft decision indicating they could approve the deal this week, as long as the airlines meet remaining competition concerns.
These relate to the companies' willingness to give up take-off and landing slots to encourage greater competition within the EU.
EasyJet, the no-frills carrier, has pushed for the merging parties to give up slots at Paris's Orly airport.
While the Commission wants Europe's national carriers to consolidate so they can compete more effectively with US airlines on long-haul flights, it is also keen to encourage more competition at a regional level.
The Commission would be reluctant to open a second-stage investigation and set out formal charges that a KLM-Air France tie-up endangered competition.
