Atitech completes acquisition of Alitalia MRO wing

ITA Airways considering Malpensa exit - report

ITA Airways, AeroItalia face off in trademark dispute

Bulgaria's European Air Charter retires last MD-82

European Air Charter (H6, Sofia) retired its last MD-82 on October 21, 2023. The Bulgarian ACMI/charter specialist was the last European operator of the McDonnell Douglas narrowbody type.

A 33.2-year-old aircraft delivered to ATI - Aero Trasporti Italiani, LZ-LDP (msn 49973) operated its last revenue flight from Hurghada to Varna. European Air Charter retired the first two of its nine MD-82s in 2022, followed by the remaining seven in 2023. Its fleet will now comprise ten A320-200s exclusively.

Fellow Bulgarian ACMI/charter carrier ALK Airlines (VBB, Sofia) still has two MD-82s, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, but both have been mothballed since January 2023.

The last European MD-81 was retired by Air Sweden in 2011, the last MD-83 - by DAT (Denmark) in 2021, the last MD-87 - by AMAC Corporate Jet in 2022, and the last MD-88 - by Bukovyna Airlines in 2013, the ch-aviation fleets history module shows.

Ryanair loses Alitalia, Brussels Airlines aid challenges

The European Union’s General Court has ruled against separate challenges from Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) that the state aid Alitalia and Brussels Airlines (SN, Brussels National) received in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic was compatible with the bloc’s internal market.

In separate judgements handed down on October 18, the court in Luxembourg dismissed the legal action the Irish carrier brought and ordered it to bear its own costs and pay those incurred by the European Commission.

Alitalia benefited from two individual aid measures amounting to EUR199.45 million euros (USD236 million at the time) in relation to the period March 1 to 15 June 15, 2020, which the European Commission approved that September; and EUR73.02 million (USD90.5 million at the time) covering June 16 to October 31, which the antitrust regulator gave its nod to in late December 2020.

Without opening the formal examination procedure for state aid, the commission considered that the measures in question constituted public aid compatible with the internal market. In two separate appeals, Ryanair asked the...