On Friday 26 March, the European Commission authorised Italian support of €24.7 million for Alitalia. This measure aims to compensate the airline for the damage suffered on certain routes due to the Covid-19 pandemic between 1 November and 31 December 2020.
For Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of Competition Policy, the decision enables Italy to provide “further compensation for direct damages suffered by Alitalia. At the same time, our investigations into past support measures to Alitalia are ongoing”.
This decision follows the Commission’s decisions of 4 September 2020 and 29 December 2020 to approve Italian measures compensating Alitalia for the damage suffered from governmental restrictions between 1 March to 15 June 2020 and from 16 June to 31 October 2020 respectively.
The Commission considered the Covid-19 pandemic to be an exceptional occurrence with a significant impact on the country’s economy. 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. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)