"Parliamentary questions

6 April 2021 

Question for written answer E-001841/2021to the Commission Rule 138

Fabio Massimo Castaldo (NI), Mario Furore (NI), Dino Giarrusso (NI), Isabella Adinolfi (NI), Daniela Rondinelli (NI) 

Subject: Alitalia, unfair incentives for carriers and allocation of slots at Linate airport

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 firm’s management, including of its slots.

Despite the fact that the legislation in force, specifically Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93, provides for the transferral of ‘frozen’ slots to other carriers, including Ryanair and WizzAir, a number of slots at Linate airport have apparently been allocated for this year’s summer season (which runs until 30 October).

Many carriers may benefit from completely opaque anti-competitive incentives: this mechanism creates distortions with repercussions on carriers’ operating costs and on tariffs.

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

1 Is the current incentive mechanism not detrimental to competition and to consumer interests?

2 What rule is preventing Italy from keeping slots at Linate?

Last updated: 26 April 2021".