While ITA and Lufthansa were discussing, with the result that at the time of writing the closure of the Italian-German agreement that will definitively sanction the wedding between the two air carriers is at risk (see AVIONEWS), the dossier for the assignment of excess slots (take-off and landing windows) of ITA and Lufthansa at airports was delivered, at midnight between 4 and 5 November to be precise, to the European Commission: 564 in total.

The selected carriers are the British low-cost EasyJet, Air France, and the holding IAG, International Airlines Group which controls Aer Lingus (Ireland), British Airways (UK), Iberia and Iberia Express (Spain), Vueling (Spain), Level (Spain), IAG Cargo (Anglo-Spanish), Avios Group (manages IAG's frequent flyer programme).

In view of the purchase of ITA by Lufthansa, the European Commission (EC), through its bodies responsible for monitoring competition, considered that some airports would have ended up under the almost total control of the German airline. This situation could have created damage to consumers, and consequently the authorities intervened by having other companies take over. Once the EC has approved the plan that provides for the entry of the selected companies into the aforementioned slots, the alliance between ITA and Lufthansa could become official. If all goes well and the knot is untied in the dialogue scheduled for this afternoon between the two air companies and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the final plan for the take-off of the alliance will be presented on November 11, in line with the road map established by Brussels.