In accordance with the EU Merger Regulation, the European Commission has granted approval for AviAlliance GmbH of Germany to acquire sole control of Athens Airport in Greece last Tuesday, November 21.
The Commission has noted that the transaction, mainly affecting the airport services market, is not expected to pose competition concerns. Previously, ownership of Athens International Airport was shared between the Greek state institutions and the private sector.
The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given that the companies are not active in the same or vertically related markets. The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
In January this year, Athens International Airport (AIA) welcomed 1.45 million travelers, thus surpassing the figures of 2019, the year before Covid-19 pandemic. With such a number of travelers, AIA showed a growth of 87.2 per cent, compared to January 2022. Passenger traffic at this airport increased by 2.8 per cent in February 2023 as well, compared to the same period last year.
Up until October, the airport marked a continuous growth in the number of domestic passengers, with July marking the highest number of travellers passing through its doors at 1,029,249, a 12.4 per cent increase compared to the year before.
The highest number of international passengers was marked in July too, with 2,274,756 reaching or leaving Greece through the Athens International Airport, a 17 per cent year-on-year growth.
In June this year, during the allocation of winners of the 2023 Best Airports awards by the Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe), Athens Airport was awarded as the winner of the 25-40 million Passengers Category.
Furthermore, Greek Airports surpassed pre-Covid 2019 levels, according to the ACI Europe. In addition, Athens International Airport (AIA) demonstrated outstanding performance, showing a 7.6 per cent increase in passenger traffic, making it one of the leading airports in terms of growth.
On November 21, the European Commission also authorised Cinven Capital Management (V) General Partner Limited (‘Cinven’) of Guernsey to acquire sole control of SYNLAB AG of Germany.
The transaction relates primarily to the sector of human medicine, in particular the provision of medical diagnostic services.
In this instance, the Commission noted that this transaction does not give rise to concerns regarding competition, taking into account that the mentioned companies are not active in the same market.
