Any buyout of KLM required the permission of the Dutch government. BA wasn’t able to obtain it, once again because of what they wanted to do to KLM was not worth the price. The minor adjustment in capacity (mostly across the Atlantic) was not a breaking point. And certainly not any different than what happened during the Air France buyout. Air France/KLM had to reduce capacity between France and Holland, and give up slots at both CDG and AMS to competitors to provide these services.
Air France did not pay a penny for KLM. The transaction was purely a stock deal (valuing KLM at around 840 million Euros). Air France proved themselves to be more visionary than BA (amazing, but true).
So let’s be clear any BA/KLM deal was never opposed by any regulatory agency, because no official deal was ever put forward.
Last edited by Otterman; 19th Mar 2008 at 08:43.