The European Commission denies that it is about to approve the alliance between Air France and Alitalia as claimed by Francesco Mengozzi, chairman of Alitalia, in an interview with French daily Les Echos last week. Competition commissioner Mario Monti says the alliance raises significant problems, notably on the Paris-Rome, Paris-Milan and Lyons-Milan routes, where a near monopoly would be created by the alliance. Monti says these problems need to be addressed, but in general the commission is in favour of such alliances in the airline sector.
Source: Flight International
