The low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle intends to take over the regional airline Widerøe. However, Norway's competition authority views the plan with skepticism and is even considering prohibiting the merger. Widerøe has a strong presence in domestic traffic and connects many rural regions with each other or with larger cities and/or the capital Oslo. Norwegian also operates some domestic routes, but it is not present at particularly small airports. This is Widerøe's core business, which it wants to take over. Apart from a few small providers, the only other domestic carrier is SAS, which has been gradually declining for many years. The Norwegian competition authority is concerned that a takeover of Widerøe by Norwegian would lead to a de facto merger and that the variety of providers would be reduced again. Specifically, it says that only Norwegian (including Widerøe) and SAS would then remain. The few niche routes served by small providers would be almost insignificant. Authority expects ticket prices to rise Competition watchdogs assume that such a consolidation could lead to fewer flights, particularly on routes where there are currently several providers, which would then be sold at a higher price. There are explicit fears that prices could be increased significantly after the takeover. This idea is not far-fetched, because in a European comparison, many takeovers and mergers, but not all, have led to higher ticket prices in the medium term. Of course, the routes affected were mainly those where there is no competition, but only one sole provider. Authority head Tina Soereide said, among other things, that the planned takeover of Widerøe by Norwegian Air Shuttle would lead to