Pressure rises to delay Milan airport switch

Date: 13/01/2000

By Renée Cordes

EUROPEAN airlines are urging the Commission to force Italy to postpone the planned transfer of flights from Milan's Linate airport to its troubled Malpensa facility for as long as possible.

The plea from eight of Europe's largest airlines comes after the Italian authorities decided to delay the first leg of the move, which had been scheduled for 15 December, but vowed to press ahead with the transfer by the end of this month.

Carriers have repeatedly warned that the new facility, and transport links between the two airports, are ill-equipped to handle the additional traffic and that they were not given enough advance warning of the move.

"We are not prepared for any more short-term hectic measures," said one source. "It has already cost us a lot of money to prepare for the transfer, which was cancelled at the last minute. We hope that the Commission, the Italian authorities and the member states now take the time to come up with a reasonable solution."

He added that the carriers would be ready to move by the end of this year or early next year, provided officials devise a plan which did not discriminate against non-Italian airlines.