No-frills threat to Alitalia rescue plan
No-frills airlines have reportedly threatened legal action if the European Union backs a rescue plan for the ailing Italian carrier Alitalia.
According to the Daily Telegraph, 11 members of the European Low Fare Airlines Association – including Ryanair and FlyBe but not EasyJet, the newspaper states – have written to the transport commissioner Loyola de Palacio complaining that any such move would equate to “illegal aid”.
Wolfgang Kurth, head of Hapag Lloyd Express, who chairs the organisation, said its members were increasingly concerned about moves to split the carrier into two and shift Alitalia’s debt into just one of the two new companies.
He reportedly said: “Asymmetrical distribution of the original company’s liabilities would be tantamount to illegal state aid.”
The Telegraph reports that the association has already written to the EU twice on this matter but has not yet received a reply.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd
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