FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
BRUSSELS – The European Commission has given the green light on Friday 10 September to the birth of Ita, the new airline that will take over from Alitalia. The new company will be born with an injection of public capital equal to 1.35 billion euros. At the same time, Brussels has confirmed that it considers illegal the 900 million euros that Alitalia received in 2017. Hopefully, this closes a long-standing affair that has been particularly expensive for the coffers of the Italian state.
“Today marks a new beginning for Italian air transport – explained Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager in a written statement -. I want to emphasize one point that was important to us, the interests of passengers: Italy will fully reimburse Alitalia travelers in case the company does not honor the tickets when it stops flying. Once Ita takes off, it will be up to Italy and Ita’s management to take advantage of this opportunity ». In addition to allowing a capital increase at market prices worth € 1.35 billion, the EU executive also decided to consider illegal the state aid obtained at the time by Alitalia.
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In its decision, the European Commission stresses that the return commitment does not fall on Ita’s shoulders. In fact, again in its decision, the EU executive states that there is economic discontinuity between the two airlines.
The decisions just announced by the community executive should allow the birth of Ita and the passing of the baton with Alitalia. One last decision is missing, again relating to Alitalia. The European Commission has yet to determine whether the additional aid obtained by Alitalia in 2019 and amounting to 400 million euros is illegal or not. “This investigation is underway – said Ms. Vestager -, and we expect to be able to take a final decision shortly”.