The regional airlines Cityjet and Air Nostrum have received the green light from the EU Commission for the planned merger. It is planned that the owners Fortress Investment Group and Air Investment Valencia will set up a joint venture and gradually merge the two carriers.

A few years ago it was announced that Cityjet and Air Nostrum wanted to merge. However, the project became very quiet for a long period of time. Only a few weeks ago it was again confirmed that the project is still up to date and that the competition authorities have again applied for approval.

Cityjet is an Ireland-based airline. In the past, the line was operated on its own account from London City Airport, among other places. At times it belonged to the Air France-KLM Group, but this parted ways a few years ago. In the meantime, the scheduled flights have been abandoned and the company has specialized in the provision of ACMI and charter services. The much larger Air Nostrum also operates in this segment, operating many flights for the Spanish IAG member under the Iberia Regional brand.

In the next step, Fortress (Cityjet) and AIV (Air Nostrum) want to create a joint company. This will then be the parent company of both airlines. In the medium term, it is planned that both providers will be closely interlinked, although there are currently no plans for one of the two AOCs to be given up. However, this cannot be completely ruled out.

The two companies had already received the green light for the planned merger from the EU Commission in July 2019. The competition authorities were of the opinion that there would be no significant impact on the market. Although the ACMI business would overlap, there are plenty of other providers. However, the merger has not been completed for the time being.

In January 2023, the release was requested again. The EU Commission has again given the green light as the competitive landscape and market conditions have not changed. There is no reason to prohibit the merger or to approve it only subject to conditions.