Latham Achieves Closure of European Commission Interim Measures Proceedings for Client Lufthansa

In a historic case, a team of Latham litigators and Lufthansa’s in-house team persuaded the European Commission to close, without action or remedy, its interim measures investigation against Lufthansa. In the context of its investigation of Lufthansa’s long-standing A++ Joint Venture with United Airlines and Air Canada the Commission claimed that competition would be irreversibly harmed if Lufthansa’s competitor Condor had to exit the Frankfurt-New York route due to Lufthansa's termination of Special Prorate Agreements (SPAs) with Condor. The Commission sought to order Lufthansa to continue those SPAs on 2024 terms.

After two statements of objections, two letters of facts, and two oral hearings, the Commission finally agreed with Lufthansa’s arguments that the requirements for interim measures were not met.

In a parallel litigation before the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Düsseldorf, Latham is lead counsel to Lufthansa seeking the annulment of a 2022 decision by the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) that claimed Lufthansa abused its dominant position by terminating the SPAs with Condor. The main proceedings are still pending before the OLG. In May 2024, the OLG granted Lufthansa interim relief against the FCO's order. The OLG’s interim relief decision was confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in December 2024.

The Latham team was led by Brussels antitrust partner Sven Völcker and Düsseldorf partner Michael Esser, with Brussels associates Friederike Hammwöhner, Eva Beyer Blumental, and Simon Troch, and Düsseldorf associates Janine Flohr and Jörn Kramer.