Norway’s competition watchdog may block Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA’s bid for domestic rival Wideroe, which the regulator argues could reduce competition and increase prices for flights in Norway.
The deal, worth 1.13 billion Norwegian krone, or about US$103.32 million, would leave only two carriers, Norwegian Air and Scandinavian Airlines, to compete for customers in Norway.
The Norwegian Competition Authority said in a statement on Friday that it is “still concerned that competition in the market for air travel may be impaired” if the deal goes ahead.
It said in September that it would conduct further analysis of the deal to determine whether it would affect competition.
The regulator’s assessment is that the competition in the market for air travel would be “significantly impeded”, which would lead to higher prices and fewer departures.
Norwegian and Wideroe together operate 107 routes in Norway, five of which overlap.
The companies have until 8 December to respond to the regulator’s statement, and the authority has a final deadline to decide on its course of action on January 3 next year.
Norwegian Air’s share price fell by more than 2% on Friday, trading at €0.82 per share by 16:00 GMT.