Italy and the European Commission (EC) have concluded "positively" the negotiations they have been running for several months for the birth of the new Alitalia, called Eng (Italy Air Transport). This was announced on Thursday by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which indicated that the new company will be "fully operational" starting October 15, when the first take-offs are expected.
Government of Italy, led by Mario Draghi, was in talks with Brussels for several months to create the new airline, Ita, to the detriment of Alitalia, which is facing a precarious financial situation and has been on the verge of bankruptcy several times in recent years.
"With Ita is born a new and important Italian airline, with significant development prospects and which will be able to compete on the national and international market", Explained the Minister of Infrastructure, Enrico Giovannini.
The negotiations ended "positively", according to Giovannnini's statements, and led to "finding a solutions to make an effective contribution to the promotion of the national aviation sector".
The new airline will bet on innovation and digitalisation, in accordance with the principles set out in Recovery plan post-pandemic approved by Rome. In this regard, the Ministry of Infrastructure will monitor the evolution of the market to understand the "new requirements" for human travel.
Alitalia has been under bankruptcy protection since 2017, without finding an investor. Italy has had to pump hundreds of millions of euros to keep the company on the market, money that has never been returned and which the European Commission is investigating if it was state aid, although it has not yet decided anything.
In addition, Alitalia has received approximately since last year 300 million euros in aid to companies affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with the approval of Brussels.