A Gathering of Eagles

Four of Europe's smaller airlines join forces to take on the global giants

ALL THE TALK ABOUT AN AIRLINE SHAKE-OUT IN Europe's overcrowded, unprofitable skies was, until last week, just talk. Then came the announcement that four airlines would merge, creating Europe's largest international carrier. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Swissair, Austrian Airlines and the trinational Scandinavian Airlines System said they would go far beyond earlier plans to combine certain activities and would create a single company with a new (yet unchosen) name and logo. Ownership would be split 30-30-30 among KLM, SAS and Swissair, with Austrian holding the remaining 10%. Starting with about 270 planes and more than 30 million passengers a year, the...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!