By Bruno Waterfield - 9th August 2004
Brussels is unable to help British Airways in a battle with Italy over flight pricing on Trans-Atlantic flights.
National air authorities have ordered the UK carrier to hike their prices on Rome to New York flights to the same level set by troubled Italian flag carrier Alitalia.
BA has protested to the European Commission over the Roman diktat that UK airlines are not allowed to undercut Italy’s struggling state-owned carrier on flights to the US that connect at London’s Heathrow.
Other airlines too are angry over protectionist demands to hike fares to Alitalia levels after the Italian carrier pocketed a lavish €400 million cash injection in July, its third huge subsidy in seven years.
But speaking on Monday, the commission warned BA that the EU is unable to intervene in an “Italo-British affair” governed by a bi-lateral aviation agreement between the two countries.
“There isn’t actually any European legal basis that allows us to deal with this since this is a bi-lateral agreement,” said the official commission spokesman.
German airline Lufthansa has also been asked to raise prices to Alitalia levels and Brussels has now written to the EU’s 25 capitals to “take stock” of other problems with bi-lateral deals between national authorities.
BA has told the EU competition watchdogs that similar clashes are looming over the setting of prices on indirect long-haul services via London Heathrow with other EU countries including Germany, Poland, Latvia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Following the consultation the EU is seeking to bring forward legislation later this year. “It is a problem which will be addressed… at this stage I can not say in what form exactly,” said the commission spokesman.
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