KLM DENIES PRESS REPORT OF AIR ATLANTA TAKEOVER

  NV KLM Royal Dutch Airlines &lt;KLM.AS>
  is "absolutely not" negotiating a takeover of U.S. Regional
  carrier Air Atlanta, a KLM spokeswoman said in a comment on an
  article in the leading Dutch evening paper NRC Handelsblad.
      "U.S. Law requires that at least 75 pct of shares in a U.S.
  Airline be owned by American firms or persons," the spokeswoman
  added.
      The newspaper said that Air Atlanta, which flies to 11 U.S.
  Cities, has a fleet of five Boeing jets with passenger capacity
  of 110 and employs 400 people, is making losses.
      She said KLM had started talks with Vendex International NV
  &lt;VENN.AS> on their jointly owned courier service XP Express
  Parcel Systems, but declined to confirm an NRC Handelsblad
  report saying it wanted to buy the Vendex stake in XP.
      KLM said last week it is negotiating a minority stake in
  British courier service &lt;IML Air Services Group Ltd>, a
  subsidiary of British and Commonwealth Shipping Plc &lt;BCOM.L>,
  to strengthen its position in the fast-growing worldwide
  door-to-door delivery market.
      The KLM spokeswoman said she expected further announcements
  about the talks with Vendex to be made early next week.
  

