Antitrust nod clears way for world's largest airline

New York: US carriers United Airlines and Continental Airlines won US antitrust approval to merge their operations late on Friday.

Both carriers combined will form the world's largest airline in terms of fleet size ahead of Delta, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

The new airline will surpass Delta for top spot among US carriers for flights across the Atlantic, with 40 per cent of passenger traffic, and handle 53 per cent of flights across the Pacific, a sector dominated by United. United and Continental got the go-ahead from the US Justice Department after agreeing to give Southwest some take-off and landing rights at Newark Liberty International Airport, a key airport hub near New York City.

Swift review

The approval came sooner than industry insiders had expected.

Despite the swift antitrust review, integrating the carriers is much more complex and time-consuming, and consumers are not likely to see any major changes immediately.

Continental and United scheduled special stockholder meetings on September 17 for approval of the merger and expect to close the deal by October 1. The deal won clearance from the European Commission in July.

United's name and Chicago headquarters will be retained, while Continental CEO Jeff Smisek will run the carrier. Combined revenue for United and Continental was almost $29 billion last year.