The European Commission cleared on 27 July, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed merger between United Air Lines and Continental Airlines, both US carriers. The activities of the parties overlap in the provision of scheduled air passenger and cargo transport between the European Economic Area (EEA) and the US. However, the proposed merger only has a limited impact on air cargo transport because of the parties’ limited presence in this market. As regards air passenger transport, United and Continental’s networks are complementary as they have hubs in different US cities. The proposed merger therefore leads only to small, incremental increases in the market shares of the parties. Both companies are members of the Star Alliance and cooperate extensively with Lufthansa and Air Canada through the A++ joint venture. The Commission’s assessment focused on the impact of the proposed merger between United and Continental and is without prejudice to its ongoing investigation of the A++ joint venture (case 39.595 – AC/CO/LH/UA).