We have already written about the likely impact on passenger choice of more Global airline mergers like BA/Iberia, KLM/Air France and Lufthansa/bmi/Austrian/Swiss but consolidation is alos taking place amongst regional carriers in mature markets. Today Struggling - but great to fly -  Danish regional airline, Cimber Air announced that it is in talks with Ukranian investor, Igor Kolomoisky, who already owns through a Cyprus organisation, Swedish regional airline Avia Express Sweden AB (Skyways) which in turn has recently acquired another Swedish regional airline – City Airline AB. The effect will be to create a Scandinavian regional airline with combined purchasing power for aircraft, fuel etc. The good news for passengers is that these airlines have access to stronger financial backing, the bad news is that truly independent airlines are fast disappearing and the economic pressures on the remaining few are increasing. The structure of the airline world is changing, once upon a time ownership was dictated by national boundaries, but now its about access to capital and ambition. We are in a decade long transition period and looking back in 2021 we'll see how fragmented today's market place was in comparison.