Accor drops plan to buy minority stake in Air France-KLM

Paris: Accor dropped a plan to acquire a minority stake in struggling French carrier Air France-KLM, saying the conditions haven’t been met for a deal.

The French operator of Raffles, Sofitel and Mercure hotels didn’t give details in its statement Thursday, and a spokeswoman didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. There were hurdles to any tie up. Accor’s biggest shareholders are Chinese and Middle Eastern, which could contravene European rules on airline ownership. Also, Accor was considering buying the state’s 14.3 per cent holding in Air France-KLM, which provoked the ire of some unions representing staff at the airline. Labour action by pilots and crew led to costly strikes since the start of the year and the resignation of its former CEO.