Alitalia and ITA: state of play and Commission decisions

Question for written answer  E-001842/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Fabio Massimo Castaldo (NI), Isabella Adinolfi (NI), Dino Giarrusso (NI), Daniela Rondinelli (NI), Mario Furore (NI)

The Italian Government has decided to authorise the establishment of a new company wholly controlled by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance to operate air passenger and freight transport services. The company will have a budget of up to EUR 3 billion and will be known as Italia Trasporto Aereo SpA (‘ITA’). A business plan has been drawn up and submitted to the Commission for assessment. However, the scope of that assessment has reportedly been broadened to cover substantive considerations linked to the management of the airline and the scale of its operations. The Commission is assessing the compatibility of the arrangements for the establishment of the new airline with EU State aid rules and is calling for economic discontinuity with Alitalia and for ITA to be launched under normal market conditions.

Recapitalisations involving tens of billions of euros have been authorised for other European flag carriers[1].

In the light of the above, can the Commission answer the following questions:

• 1.on the basis of which EU legal provisions is economic discontinuity between ITA and Alitalia being insisted on, and can this discontinuity extend to essential business elements, such as the scale of the airline’s operations and the size of its fleet; and
• 2.does the request to launch the airline under normal market conditions, while other countries have been authorised to provide a capital injection from the public coffers, not constitute discrimination?

• [1] https://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/mondo/lufthansa-ok-da-ue-agli-aiuti-di-stato-tedeschi-da-6-miliardi_19880077-202002a.shtml