Lufthansa's takeover of Austrian Airlines will be officially sealed by September, the Austrian carrier's co-chairman Andreas Bierwirth told national television ORF.

"We expect that the official closing (of the deal) will come sometime during the month of September, that means the books will also be handed over to Lufthansa at that time," said Mr Bierwirth.

From them on, Austrian Airlines (AUA) will be "part of the Lufthansa family," he added.

German airline Lufthansa said it was near to a compromise agreement with the European Commission on its planned takeover of AUA, adding that it had asked Austria for and end-of-July deal deadline to be extended to the end of next month.

The European Commission is probing the proposed link-up amid fears the Lufthansa takeover could lead to higher prices for passengers or fewer flights on some routes.

It has demanded that Lufthansa make concessions, with those offered to date deemed insufficient by the commission. A spokesman for the commission in Brussels said that "a new offer" had been received from Lufthansa that was "significantly different" from what had been submitted previously.