Division (9)

The Commission accepts that, overall, the alliance contributes to improving the production and distribution of transport services and to promoting technical and economic progress. The cooperation agreement is likely to generate benefits in terms of creating a more extensive worldwide network which would offer customers better services in terms of an increased number of direct and indirect flights. While an increase in the airlines' size does not necessarily lead to a cost reduction because of constant economies of scale, savings may be realised due to an increase in traffic throughout the network, better planning of frequencies, a higher load factor, etc.