PHOTOS: Skopje and Ohrid airports reopen their doors

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EU okays Alitalia successor

EU competition regulators have given the green light to a slimmed down successor to Alitalia and said the new state-owned airline was not liable for repaying 900 million euros 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 900 million euros 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 European Commission, which oversees the EU's competition policy. The new carrier is due to start flying in place of Alitalia on October 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. The Italian government has set aside a total of 3 billion euros for ITA, but the Commission only gave a green light to an initial 1.35 billion euros capital injection by Rome into the carrier over the next three years.
Reuters

PHOTOS: Skopje and Ohrid airports reopen their doors

NEWS FLASH

Skopje and Ohrid airports reopened yesterday for commercial air traffic for the first time in three and a half months, as a result of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. The first aircraft to touch down in the Macedonian capital was a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul carrying 104 passengers, while the first to take off was a Wizz Air service to Skvasta Airport in Sweden. Overall, Skopje handled 28 flights during its first day and welcomed some 1.700 travellers. Over in Ohrid, a Chair Airlines flight from Zurich was the first to arrive with 141 passengers on board. The two airports have introduced a range of safety and hygiene measures to safeguard passengers' health and well-being.

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PHOTOS: Skopje and Ohrid airports reopen their doors

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