The partnership agreement between Alitalia and Meridiana is at risk of receiving an adverse ruling from the Italian competition authority. The airlines are negotiating the terms of their agreement, to be signed by 15 April, but they will have to submit their proposal to the competition authority's president Giuseppe Tesauro.
Tesauro denied approval for a codeshare between the airlines on four national routes in 1999 on competition grounds. In 1999 the two carriers accounted for about 92% of the national air transport market. The partnership would account for 76% of the market, following Alitalia's decline to about 60%. The present total would be in line with Air France's and Lufthansa's shares of their respective national markets.
Source: Flight International
