Brussels, 29/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Italian government should in principle adopt, this week, the decree that shares out flights to and from Milan between the airports of Linate and Malpensa. A new project was studied last Friday by the Italian Council of Ministers. Contrary to the first decrees annulled last year under pressure from the European Commission (which found them discriminatory for air companies that are in competition with Alitalia), the new breakdown will authorise other flights than those towards Rome to stay in Linate. According to indications in the Italian press, the international, community and national flights would go to Malpensa. The flights with less than 350,000 passengers per year, or flights towards regions lagging behind in development - for example, Lisbon, Dublin, Algiers, Brindisi, Olbia, Reggio, Lamezia and Cagliari - would remain in Linate. The previous decree having been cancelled because of divergence between the Italian transport and environment ministers, the new project foresees an anti-noise strategy including, among other things, a ban on night flights and the noisiest flights over Malpensa.
The European Commission refuses for now to make any comment, pending the official publication of the decree. The Italian authorities, for their part, appear to be seeking the opinion of the European executive before publishing the text that would finally transform Malpensa into an international turntable for air traffic, after nearly two years of the game of ping pong between Brussels, Rome and Milan. At the same time, Linate airport, which is far closer to the town of Milan, would be relaunched with activity that is not limited to the Rome-Milan shuttle, leaving space for companies other than Alitalia.