ITALY and Alitalia are certainly getting a real broadside from the UK domiciled budget airlines. When the Italian Civil Aviation Authority blocked the easyJet and Ryanair Sardinia initiative in May the European Commission launched an investigation into the application of PSO (Public Service Obligation) rules in Italy. Ryanair is demanding that the EU reach a speedy conclusion to its investigation. It questions just what is going on in Italy. ”Why has Alitalia been allowed to operate on a PSO route that it never applied for? Why did Meridiana suddenly offer Alitalia a codeshare agreement on its PSO route after mediation by the Italian Ministry of Transport? Why did AirOne and Meridiana agree to take on Alitalia”s 100 Sardinian employees after the president of the Sardinian region declared that their jobs would be safe?”
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