Alitalia, Enac Air Traffic Agreement Challenged By Italian Airlines
Posted on: Thursday, 3 April 2008, 09:00 CDT
The supposedly confidential agreement on air traffic rights, signed between the ailing Italian airline Alitalia and the National Civil Aviation Authority, is being questioned and challenged by several Italian airlines, reported the Financial Times.
Industry sources have alleged that the agreement was hastened and backed by the present government to ensure that the proposed takeover of Alitalia by French airline Air France-KLM is accomplished.
The agreement between Enac and Alitalia was reportedly signed on March 14, around the same time when Air France-KLM put forth its binding offer for Alitalia. It reassigns airline traffic rights for some intercontinental routes that the airline had planned to discontinue using from Milan's Malpensa airport. However, industry and government sources claim that the routes would be of advantage to Air France-KLM.
According to the agreement, traffic rights that previously belonged to Volare, a low-cost carrier Alitalia had rescued from bankruptcy in 2006, had also been assigned to Alitalia. It is reported that Italy's highest administrative court had said on March 3, 2008 that Volare's sale was irregular and will have to repeated.
The Italian airline has been attempting to get the traffic rights reassigned because one of the conditions laid down by Air France-KLM for its offer was a guarantee that Alitalia would maintain 'the current portfolio of its air traffic rights' as 'satisfied by the agreement underwritten with Enac'.
Air One, Blue Panorama, Eurofly, Air Italy and Neos are some of the airlines that are threatening to challenge Alitalia's move. They have reportedly requested Enac to release details of the agreement and are considering a legal challenge.
While Alitalia refused to comment on the development, an Enac official said that the agreement was completely normal, details of which would soon be released.
Source: Datamonitor
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