There have not yet been any decisions regarding a probe into Etihad’s stake in airline Air Berlin and whether it complies with European Commission rules, a spokesman for the German transport ministry said on Friday.
“The probe will be carried out very carefully. The probe is still ongoing – that means there have not yet been any decisions. I can’t tell you yet when there will be a decision on it,” the spokesman said at a government news conference.
The Commission is examining several foreign holdings in European airlines to see if they comply with rules for operating an airline within Europe. To get an operating licence in the EU as a European airline, a carrier must be more than 50 percent owned and “effectively controlled” by an EU member state or EU citizens.
Germany’s transport ministry and the federal aviation office are therefore looking into the issue of control at Air Berlin, in which Etihad owns a 29.2 percent stake.
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