On 29 December, the European Commission approved €73.02 million in Italian aid for Alitalia to compensate the airline for damage suffered on 19 routes between 16 June and 31 October 2020.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President responsible for Competition Policy, said that this measure “enables Italy to provide further compensation for direct damages suffered by Alitalia between June and October 2020 due to the travel restrictions necessary to limit the spread of the coronavirus”. At the same time, “our investigations into past support measures to Alitalia are ongoing”, she said.
Alitalia suffered significant operating losses until at least 31 October 2020.
The aid will take the form of a direct grant of €73.02 million, which corresponds to the estimated amount of damage directly caused to the airline over this period, according to a route-by-route analysis of the 19 eligible routes.
This decision follows the Commission's decision of 4 September 2020 to approve the Italian compensation measure in favour of Alitalia compensating the airline for damage suffered from 1 March 2020 to 15 June 2020.
The Commission considers that the coronavirus outbreak qualifies as such an exceptional occurrence, as it is an extraordinary, unforeseeable event having a significant economic impact. As a result, exceptional interventions by the Member State to compensate for the damages linked to the outbreak are justified.
The Commission found that the Italian measure will compensate for damages suffered by Alitalia which are directly linked to the coronavirus outbreak, as the loss of profitability on the 19 routes as a result of the containment measures during the relevant period can be considered as damage directly linked to the exceptional occurrence.
The Commission also found that the measure is proportionate, as the route-by-route quantitative analysis submitted by Italy appropriately identifies the damage attributable to the containment measures, and therefore the compensation does not exceed what is necessary to make good the damage on those routes.
On 23 April 2018, the Commission had opened a formal investigation procedure on €900 million loans granted to Alitalia by Italy in 2017. On 28 February 2020, the Commission had opened a separate formal investigation on an additional €400 million loan granted by Italy in October 2019. Both investigations are ongoing.
In addition, on 23 December the Commission authorised Greek aid amounting to €120 million in compensation to Aegean Airlines for damage suffered between 23 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Finally, on 22 December, it validated two Polish measures, totalling around €650 million, to support the airline LOT. The aid measures consist of a subsidised loan of €400 million and a capital injection of around €250 million. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)