The European Commission has adopted, at a technical level, its first informal positive guidance on wedding between Ita and Lufthansa in view of the official verdict which will be announced by July 4th. It is revealed byHandle, which cites European sources close to the dossier who speak of "decisive progress". According to Courier, Brussels is only waiting for the final document with the sacrifices made by those involved, but is satisfied with the preliminary version (draft remedies) sent in the last few days.
The proposed remedies
The agreement provides conditions for the protection of competition in the airport Milan-Linate and on short and long-haul connections, with the opening of routes to rival airlines. In particular, to remedy the excessive presence at Milan Linate airport the solution should be to yield approximately 15-17 pairs of slots (equal to 30-34 daily flights, in both directions), more than the 11 pairs owned by the entire Lufthansa group. Come on short-haul flights, instead, should enter into competition on the routes where the Ita-Lufthansa union would lead to a monopoly at least one carrier which will have to be approved by the EU Commission: the Courier reveals that it could be EasyJet, which will also be able to open new connections.
Giorgetti: “We'll get married, but anything can happen”
“I believe that in recent days we have still worked very intensely, hard. Let's say the date is set, right now I think we'll get married, but anything can happen“, said the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti. “The long-awaited wedding. The bride and witnesses have been summoned, but the Don Abbondio of the situation may not even show up,” he added, replying to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to the Industrial Association of Cremona.
