EU approved cooperation of Etihad and Alitala

November 14, 2014, the European Commission approved the agreement of cooperation of UAE-based Etihad Airways and Alitalia with the condition that it will enable Italian company to avoid bankruptcy.

As the only condition, Brussels set the approval – opening of "slots" for another airline to use Fiumicino in Rome and Nikola Tesla in Belgrade.

After months of negotiations, August 8, Etihad Airways agreed on purchase of Alitalia.

The Commission explains that now Alitalia and Air Serbia controlled by Etihad, are the only carriers providing direct Rome-Belgrade flights.

The European Commission said it is afraid that “monopoly” generated with this association, at the Rome-Belgrade line, “leads to price increase and service quality decrease", and imposed "commitment is a reply to this worry".

Etihad should pour EUR 560 m so that it would, with 49% capital, become the biggest shareholder at Alitalia whose debt is estimated at one billion euros.