News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page
NewsMine cabal-elite european-union unification Viewing Item | Italy orders state owner airlines to curb fare deals { August 8 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://news.ft.com/cms/s/479eac14-e968-11d8-b556-00000e2511c8.htmlhttp://news.ft.com/cms/s/479eac14-e968-11d8-b556-00000e2511c8.html
Italy orders airlines to curb fare deals By Kevin Done in London Published: August 8 2004 22:08 | Last updated: August 8 2004 22:08
Italy has ordered leading European airlines, including British Airways and Germany's Lufthansa, to stop offering lower fares than Alitalia, the struggling majority state-owned Italian flag carrier, on competing long-haul services.
The move by the Italian government comes as it seeks to prevent Alitalia collapsing into bankruptcy by agreeing an emergency state-guaranteed €400m ($493m) loan to the airline.
But it has sparked a fierce protest by BA to the European Commission and has triggered a row with the UK government.
The UK transport department said the Italian government had been told “in strong terms” that BA should be allowed to continue with its fare offers.
Lufthansa said it was in talks with Italian authorities after it had been told to raise its fares to Alitalia's levels.
Enac, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority, was not available for comment.
BA said it had written to the Commission urging it “to intervene promptly” to require the Italian authorities to suspend their actions until the legality of the measures could be investigated.
BA said similar potential problems over the setting of prices on some indirect long-haul services connecting through its London Heathrow hub could occur in several European Union states including Germany, Poland, Latvia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
BA told the Commission last week that Enac had threatened to take legal action unless the airline “withdraws its fares henceforth”.
In a letter received on July 29, BA had been given three days to comply or face immediate consequences.
Additional reporting by Tony Barber in Rome.
|
| Files Listed: 25 |
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material
available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political,
human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes. For more information,
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use
copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond
'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|