ALITALIA soldiers on with the permission of the European Commission. The Italians (and Brussels) have found a way of getting around the airline”s latest problems by splitting Alitalia into two companies ” AZ Fly (flight operations), and AZ Service (ground operations). The move is certain not to go down well with BA boss Rod Eddington, who is opposed to any form of support. EU transport minister, Jacques Barrot said, ”On the basis of a thorough and detailed analysis the Commission has concluded that these recapitalisations do not involve any state aid. This would have been prohibited by the ”one-time, last-time” principle, which we scrupulously uphold.” Alitalia, previously 62%-owned by the Italian government, was the beneficiary of a E1.43bn cash injection from Rome in June 2002 and a E400m loan last year. Following the recapitalisation, the government will retain a minimum 30% of AZ Fly, which in turn will hold a 51% stake in AZ Service, until at least 2008, with the other 49% going to Fintecna, another government agency.
http://www.alitalia.com