The loan of 400 million euros that the Italian government provided to the airline Alitalia in 2019 is illegal state aid, the European Commission has ruled.
Italy must recover the money plus interest from the company.
In May 2017, Alitalia was placed in special bankruptcy proceedings under Italian bankruptcy law while continuing to operate as an airline. To keep Alitalia operational, Italy provided loans to the company in 2017 and 2019 for 900 and 400 million euros, respectively. However, these loans have never been repaid, says the EU executive.
In September 2021, the committee concluded after an investigation that the 900 million euros in support were illegal. Now she says that no private investor would have provided the additional €400 million loan to the company in 2019 and that the loan gave Alitalia an unfair economic advantage over its competitors on domestic, European and international routes.
Previously, the commission has already determined that ITA Airways, which acquired part of Alitalia’s assets in 2021, is not Alitalia’s economic successor and is therefore not obliged to repay the illegal state aid received by Alitalia.