Klm Royal Dutch Airlines

Stelios Haji-Ioannou seems a little young and casual to own an airplane, much less an airline. Like easyJet Co., the airline he started 10 months ago, Haji-Ioannou gives a no-frills impression. The owner of Europe's newest discount airline dresses casually. At 29, he exudes poise beyond his years. Nonetheless, he calls his father every day for advice. "I like changing things," he said in an interview. "Doing things the old way doesn't excite me.

Northwest Airlines Corp. said Thursday that its board adopted a shareholder rights plan to thwart a suspected hostile takeover attempt by its alliance partner, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. In a deepening feud between the companies, the anti-takeover defense was approved by a vote of 11 to 3, with the opposition coming from three directors designated by KLM.

With takeover speculation rumbling through the airline industry, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on Wednesday sued Northwest Airlines executives in a power play to maintain its stake in the lucrative airline. The lawsuit is over a proposed Northwest takeover defense that would limit the stake of shareholders and allow mergers and other major transactions to be approved by a simple majority of board members. Northwest's so-called shareholder rights plan could force KLM to sell some of its 21.

The Dutch airline KLM has appealed a $238,000 fine imposed by a Philippine court for a passenger's lost bag, a spokesman for the company said. The court awarded the damages last month to a man who lost his suitcase eight years ago en route from Manila to Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he was giving a lecture at a World Health Organization conference.

Air France has acquired control of KLM Royal Dutch, the two carriers announced Tuesday, cementing their merger, which creates the world's largest airline company. The French and Dutch airlines said they had cleared the last hurdle in the merger they agreed to last year to create Air France-KLM. KLM shareholders tendered almost 42 million shares, representing 89.2% of the airline's capital, in a share swap offer that closed Monday.

Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines plan to create an aviation group that would surpass British Airways as Europe's largest airline operator. The deal would unite Europe's second- and fourth-largest carriers under one corporate parent, to be called Air France-KLM. The new company would generate annual revenue of about $22.08 billion, compared with $12.4 billion last year for British Airways. The group would serve 58.