EasyJet sees gain in rivals' merger

BUDGET British airline easyJet is predicting the merger of Air France and KLM could boost its European expansion.

The Luton-based carrier has informally told French transport officials that it wants any take-off or landing slots that Air France or KLM are obliged by competition regulators to surrender.

EasyJet has seven aircraft operating out of Amsterdam on continental routes, and a similar number flying from Paris, from where it has launched services to Nice, Marseille and Toulouse.

Despite enthusiasm among French flyers for easyJet's prices, its expansion has been restrained by the scarcity of slots at the two Paris airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly. Analysts and easyJet expect European competition authorities to oblige Air France and KLM to hand back half of the slots they use to link Amsterdam and Paris.

'We would like to take them over,' said an easyJet spokesman.

Investment bank JP Morgan described the budget carrier's chances of winning the Paris to Amsterdam route as 'a useful source of growth', as 'good'.

The French government's stake in Air France will drop after the merger, meaning it would be less likely to protect the carrier from competition that would be popular with voters.