Brussels, 21/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - After proceedings lasting four years, the European Commission approved, on Thursday, the rules for distributing air traffic between Milan's airports, Linate and Malpensa, on the basis of the latest commitments taken by the Italian government in a letter from the Italian Transport Minister to the Commission (see EUROPE of 16 December, p.8). Approval of the "Bersani" decree of 4 March 2000 is contingent upon implementation, within 15 days, of the Italian commitments, namely: 1) all European capitals can now have at least one return trip connection per day with Linate; 2) Community airports with annual traffic of more than 40 million passengers in 1999 can be connected to Linate by at least two return trips per day; and 3) by the end of 2001 Italy will assess the functioning of the traffic distribution rules within the Milan airport system.
The Italian Transport Minister, Pierluigi Bersani, welcomed this decision which "brings to an end the uncertainty that seemed endless". At present, he added, speaking to the Italian press in Brussels, "the future of Malpensa is in our hands". He suggested that, from now on, collaboration should be set up in Italy between the national, regional and local authorities for the management of Malpensa.