SCOTTIE & NUTLOOSE....
You're correct, of course....
Although the same EU ( totally unbiased, of course ) authorities seem to belive that there is adequate competition between Frankfurt and...oh, let's think....Zurich, Geneva, Vienna, Linz, Luxemburg, Brussels....And probably others that I can't think of just now, because slots at Frankfurt are just as difficult and expensive to acquire as at Heathrow....
I think the point that I was trying to make, but re-reading my post this afternoon, didn't make it as clear as I was thinking when I posted, is that I'm sure that Lufthansa's desire to sell BMI made it an awful lot easier for IAG to complete a deal rather than if IAG had wanted to buy BMI directly from Bishop a couple of years ago when Lufthansa first did the deal with him, as Lufthansa seem to have very good friends in much higher places inside the EU than just about any other European airline....