The proposed deadline merger between Air France and KLM is set to be extended by two weeks as the European Commission believes any competition problems can be resolved.
While the consolidation of the two airlines had the initial backing of the Commission, there appears to be a slight problem with flights between Paris and Amsterdam.
As both airlines seek to assure the Commission, the deadline for the merger investigation has been put back to February 12.
This is seen as significant as the Commission usually only agrees to extend the initial phase of merger probes if they believe there is a good chance of it proving successful.
If successful, the merger would create the world's largest airline by turnover and third biggest by traffic volume.
Both airlines hope to launch a share exchange offer in March, leading to a closing in April.