The European Commission and the Italian Government have reached a last-minute agreement on a traffic distribution system between Milan's two airports at Linate and Malpensa, where a new hub is to open on 25 October.
The deal, agreed in principle, followed a day of intense negotiations on 8 October between ECcompetition commissioner Neil Kinnock and Italian transport minister Claudio Burlando.
The EC says the accord, which for an interim period allows 34% of flights by all airlines to operate from Linate "-should ensure a non-discriminatory and proportionate distribution of airline traffic across the two airports". Carriers operating fewer than 18 weekly flights can stay at Linate. The interim period will last until infrastructure development at Malpensa is completed in around 2000.
Nine European airlines complained to the EC in August that the Italian Government's demand that they move to Malpensa was anti-competitive. They pointed to Italian carriers Alitalia and Air One being allowed to operate lucrative domestic routes from Linate, which is only 9km (5.5 miles) from the centre of Milan, while they were forced to move to Malpensa, 50km away, before an adequate transport infrastructure had been completed.
Source: Flight International
