Some news about FR and CIA:
An Italian court rejected a request by Ryanair to suspend planned flight cuts at Ciampino, Rome's smaller airport, yesterday. The move is aimed at protecting national carrier Alitalia, the budget airline claims.
The airline had filed a lawsuit against Italy's aviation authority ENAC over a plan to reduce the number of flights out of Ciampino airport to 100 from 138 daily from November 1, after complaints from residents of congestion and high noise levels.
Ryanair, which has also asked the European Commission to intervene in the row, says military aircraft, rather than its flights, are to blame for the noise at night. It has also dismissed ENAC's claim that runway repairs are also a reason for the cuts, adding that restricting flights at Ciampino airport is 'unjustified'' and illegal.
The TAR regional administrative court said there were not enough elements to support Ryanair's request for a temporary injunction against the cuts while the court decides separately on the merits of the case. The date for a final decision, which could still be in Ryanair's favour, has not been set.
The planned traffic cut will force Ryanair to cancel 66 flights a week, or about 12% of its flights out of Ciampino. The Irish budget airline said in a statement it would appeal Friday's ruling.
Ryanair Chief Executive, Michael O'Leary, said in a statement: 'The TAR's failure to protect Italian consumers from this abuse of European and Italian law is very disappointing.'
'The imposition of these bogus restrictions by the Italian government will force Roman consumers to pay the higher fares charged by Alitalia, while causing significant damage to tourism in Rome.'