Chinese airline's acquisition of Swissport approved by EU

BRUSSELS - China's fourth-largest airline HNA Group's takeover of the airport luggage handler Swissport International got the green light from the antitrust body of the European Union (EU) on Wednesday.

"The proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns because the companies' activities do not overlap," the European Commission said in a statement.

Swissport is a major provider of airport ground handling, cargo handling and related ground handling services to airlines in Europe and abroad.

HNA Group, based on China's southern tropical island, has developed into one of Chinese major airlines since it was established 22 years ago. In July, the company entered the global fortune 500 list with annual revenues of $25.6 billion.

Given that the HNA Group has a limited share in the demand for services of ground handling, cargo handling or offline cargo handling, the Commission concluded the merged entity "would not be able to shut out suppliers" of such services.

HNA purchased Swissport at the price of 2.73 billion Swiss francs ($2.7 billion) from PAI Partners SAS in July, saying it would run the operator as a stand-alone business within the group.