The flight path of Airline M&A since 2001

(Reuters) - The European Commission approved a long-awaited deal for Lufthansa to take a 41% stake in Italy's ITA Airways on Wednesday, in Europe's latest major consolidation.

The European sector has experienced a wave of consolidation in the last 20 years as small national airlines struggle to compete with larger global groups and budget carriers.

This comes as regulators fear the industry in North America is too concentrated, with some deals blocked by courts.

Here are some of the key deals globally since 2001:

2001- American Airlines reaches deal to acquire Trans World Airlines (TWA).

2004 - France's Air France and Dutch carrier KLM announce plans to merge. Dutch carrier Transavia, previously owned by KLM, also becomes part of Air France-KLM.

2005 - Lufthansa takes minority stake in Swiss Airlines. It completes the takeover in 2007.

2008 - Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines.

2009 - Lufthansa gets green light to buy Austrian Airlines. The same year, Lufthansa acquires a stake in Brussels Airlines, before taking it over fully in 2017.

2010 - United Airlines and Continental Airlines merge in an all-stock transaction and Southwest Airlines reaches a deal to buy AirTran Holdings.

2011 - IAG forms after British Airways acquires Spanish carrier Iberia. The merger agreement was signed in 2010.

2013 - IAG takes a 90% stake in Barcelona-based Vueling, which was already largely under Iberia's management.

American Airlines and US Airways unveil a $11 billion merger.

2014 - Etihad Airways invests 1.7 billion euros ($1.83 billion) and takes a 49% stake in Alitalia, ITA Airways' troubled predecessor.

2016 - Alaska Air announces a deal to buy Virgin America for $2.6 billion.

2019 - Cathay Pacific Airways says it will buy budget carrier Hong Kong Express for $628 million.

2020 - Italy nationalises Alitalia, taking back ownership in March, after the carrier was privatised in 2009.

2021 - Korean Air says it will take over two-thirds of Korea's struggling second major carrier Asiana Airlines for $1.6 billion.

2022 - Tata-owned flag carrier Air India says it will merge with Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines.

2022 - JetBlue Airways wins a bidding war for Spirit Airlines after the ultra-low-cost carrier terminates a $2.7 billion merger deal with Frontier Group and accepts its $3.8 billion buyout. The deal, however, is called off in 2024 after a U.S. judge blocked it on competition concerns.

2023 - Alaska Air announces a deal to buy Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion, including debt.

2023 - Scandinavian carrier SAS announces a rescue deal to help it exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy, under which Castlelake will take a stake of about 32%, while Air France-KLM's will be around 20% and the Danish state will hold about 26%.

2024 - The European Commission approves the acquisition of Asiana by Korean Air.

ONGOING

IAG - AIR EUROPA

The European Commission is set to make a final decision on the deal by July as it assesses whether taking over Air Europa will make IAG unreasonably dominant in the Iberian peninsula.

TAP

Portugal's struggling national carrier has long been looking to find a private investor to take it over from the government.

IAG, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have expressed interest.

TAP CEO Luis Rodrigues last month said that the new centre-right government should not sell 100% and should also bring in non-aviation investors, such as private equity.

SAS

The European Commission is evaluating Air France-KLM's offer to take a 19.9% stake in Scandinavian carrier SAS.

($1 = 0.9314 euros)

(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska, Lisa Barrington, Sergio Goncalves and Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Alexander Smith)