Because AirFrance is not Alitalia

The negotiation between the European Commission and the Italian government on Alitalia seems to have restarted. But the (re) nationalization of three billion euros has not yet been authorized and the stakes set by Brussels remain very strict. Prime Minister Mario Draghi himself highlighted that on several points the Commission is immovable. In the first place, Ita will not be able to take the Alitalia brand, and will also be able to directly acquire only the part relating to the flight and not the ground services and handling. This solution is criticized by many political forces who, after the 4 billion euro aid received by AirFrance-KLM, have accused the Commission of discriminating against Italy (and Alitalia). But the “inequality of treatment” not only does not exist. Or rather, if it exists, it is all in favor of Alitalia, given that aid for Covid-19 had to be authorized only for companies that were not in difficulty in 2019. This is a key element in not distorting the market, saving with the excuse of the pandemic. In 2019 Alitalia had a negative EBIT margin of over 14 percentage points, while AirFrance-KLM had a positive margin of 4.2 percent (the Lufthansa group over 5 percent).