Hello from bizjournals.com! David Mueller (kawika42@mac.com) thought you might like the following article from Pacific Business News: JAL gets approval to merge with JAS ------------------------------------------------------------ Japan's Fair Trade Commission announced Monday that it was giving its approval to the merger of Japan Airlines and Japan Air System. The OK, which was expected after the two companies said they would give up some coveted flight slots and airport ground space to rival carriers, means the merger can go ahead as soon as both companies' shareholders give their own approval to it. Both have annual meetings in June. JAL and JAS set the stage for public acceptance of their consolidation by announcing they would cut basic fares about 10 percent once they merge. Japan Airlines is Japan's largest airline, but the second largest, All Nippon Airways, has more flights within Japan. In moving to merge with number three JAS, Japan Airlines was moving to improve its domestic standing. JAL supplies the most airlift between Japan and Hawaii, though ANA also has dozens of flights here a week. JAS does not serve Hawaii. Barring any problem securing shareholder signoff, which is not expected, the airlines intend to merge Oct. 2. Copyright(c) American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved. You can view this article on the web at: http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2002/04/29/daily4.html