EU okays Alitalia successor and says it's not liable for illegal aid

EU competition regulators on Friday gave the green light to a slimmed down successor to Alitalia and said the new state-owned airline was not liable for repaying E900m in illegal state aid received by its predecessor. The approval of Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) will be greeted with relief in Rome, which has been negotiating for months to prevent the decision on the E900m of loans from hindering the launch of the new airline. Alitalia is unlikely to repay that aid, plus interest, as the carrier's coffers are empty and money it may collect from the sale of assets is not expected to be enough. ITA will operate with less than half of Alitalia's fleet of aircraft and will only be allowed to take over limited parts of its predecessor's handling and maintenance businesses. Alitalia's brand and its loyalty programme will be sold in an open tender, said the EC, which oversees the EU's competition policy. The new carrier is due to start flying in place of Alitalia on Oct. 15 and plans to employ only a small part of its predecessor's 11,000 total workforce under a new, less generous labour contract. The uncertainty over the future of thousands of workers has sparked protests and a demonstration was underway in Rome.<br/>