BRUSSELS: Europe’s airline industry must consolidate further to stay competitive, the CEOs of British Airways owner IAG and Ryanair said on Wednesday, as the EU weighs a new deal between Germany’s Lufthansa and Italian rival ITA Airways.

“If we don’t allow consolidation in Europe, we will destroy airlines in Europe,” IAG CEO Luis Gallego told an aviation conference.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said at the same event there was a need to “tidy up” small-scale, struggling carriers in Europe, pointing to Portugal’s TAP as requiring an “unsustainable” amount of taxpayer support to survive during the pandemic.

The European Commission should “get on with it and approve these mergers because, ultimately, it is the way forward in Europe,” O’Leary said.

The European Commission is due to say this week how it views Lufthansa’s bid to acquire a 41% stake in state-owned ITA for 325 million euros ($352 million).

Lufthansa’s CEO said he wanted to close the deal “as soon as possible”, and was optimistic ahead of the expected EU statement of objections.

EU antitrust regulators opened an investigation into the potential deal in January, with warnings it could reduce competition in flights to and from Italy. Potential remedies could include opening up slots, traffic rights and planes to allow a rival to operate on some routes.