Alitalia CEO Cramer Ball and Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary met in a Rome hotel Tuesday morning, just before a press conference in which the Irish budget airline announced 3,000 new jobs in Italy, Alitalia sources said. "The two managers had coffee and discussed the air transport market situation in Europe," they said. Ryanair also said it would launch 61 new routes in Italy next year. The company said it expects 2017 to be its biggest growth year in Italy "due in large part" to a move by the former Matteo Renzi government to scrap a E2.5 airport tax increase.<br/>
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The US DoT said Wednesday it had granted final approval to an alliance agreement submitted by Delta and Aeromexico. The decision lets Delta and Aeromexico cooperate with immunity from US antitrust law, and paves the way for the two companies to dominate the second-busiest market for travel to or from the United States. The department granted tentative approval to the arrangement on Nov. 4.<br/>