The European Commission, on Tuesday 27 July, approved an €800 million Italian scheme to compensate airports and ground-handling operators for the damage suffered due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the travel restrictions that Italy and other countries had to implement to limit the spread of the virus.
Italy notified to the Commission an aid measure to compensate airports and ground-handling operators for the damage suffered between 1 March and 14 July 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The support will take the form of direct grants.
The measure will be open to all airports and ground-handling operators with a valid operating certificate delivered by the Italian civil aviation authority. A claw-back mechanism will ensure that any public support received by the beneficiaries in excess to the actual damage suffered will have to be paid back to the Italian State. The Commission considers the Covid-19 pandemic to be an extraordinary event due to its exceptional and unforeseeable nature and its major impact on the economy. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)