His Excellency Luigi Di Maio Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Piazzale Della Farnesina, 1 00135 Roma
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 29.1.2021 C(2021) 431 final PUBLIC VERSION This document is made available for information purposes only. Subject: State Aid SA.54765 (2020/N) – Italy – Investment aid to Rimini airport Excellency, 1. PROCEDURE (1) Following pre-notification contacts,1 on 7 May 2020 Italy notified to the Commission an investment aid for the airport of Rimini (“the Airport”, “Rimini airport” or “AIRiminum”). In response to the requests for information sent by the Commission, the Italian authorities supplemented the notification on 30 July, 26 August, 4 September, 28 October, 17 November and 17 December 2020.2 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE AID 2.1. The beneficiary (2) The Airport is an international passenger airport located in Miramare, approximately 5 km south-east of Rimini and 16 km east of San Marino. According to data released in 2018 by ENAC (the Italian Civil Aviation 1 Italy submitted versions of a draft notification form on 24 June and 16 December 2019. 2 The Commission sent Italy requests for information on 17 July, 19 and 20 August, 2 September 2020, 26 and 30 October, and 3 December. His Excellency Luigi Di Maio Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Piazzale della Farnesina, 1 00135 Roma Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111 Authority), Rimini airport is the second airport of the Emilia-Romagna Region and the twenty-seventh in Italy by number of passengers.3 (3) According to Italy, passenger traffic at the Airport has grown exponentially since 2002, from 209 598 passengers in 2002 to 920 641 passengers in 2011 (an almost five-fold increase in less than ten years). Following the bankruptcy of the Rimini airport operator in November 2013, the Airport was completely closed from 31 October 2014 until 1 April 2015, when operations started again under the management of the new concessionaire AIRiminum 2014 S.p.A. (“AIRiminum”). Since then, the Airport has recorded a steady increase in passengers (+49% in 2016, +27% in 2017 and +28% in 2019). In both 2017 and 2018, the Airport registered approximately 300 000 passengers per year; in 2019, it counted about 393 000 passengers. So far, passenger traffic has been mostly concentrated in the summer period and is linked to routes from Eastern Europe (about 85% of passenger traffic). On the other hand, Rimini airport does not serve domestic flights. (4) The Airport is open to all users. It is currently used by several airlines, including Deutsche Lufthansa, Luxair, Finnair and Ryanair. (5) The Airport is operated by AIRiminum under a 30-year concession granted by ENAC. AIRiminum is a private company4 that has three fully-owned subsidiaries: AIRhandling s.r.l., which provides airport handling services; AIRsecurity s.r.l., which provides airport security services; and AIRcourtesy s.r.l., which manages commercial activities in the airport. (6) The Airport is 125 kilometres from Bologna airport (approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes by car or up to 2 hours and 10 minutes by public transport). Forlì airport, which is located at 60-km distance from Rimini airport, is mainly a general aviation airport and does not have scheduled commercial flights.5 However, Rimini airport is only 86 kilometres from Ancona airport. For the purposes of the Aviation Guidelines,6 Ancona airport is thus in the same catchment area7 as Rimini airport. 3 Source : Assaeroporti, Annual Data Report 2019 (available at https://assaeroporti.com/wp- content/plugins/multipage_xls_reader/pdf_file/2019.pdf). 4 AIRiminum is owned by four private shareholders: Armonie S.r.l. (57.88%); Alquimie 4 Metropolis S.r.l. (23.75%); Synergie 4 AIRiminum S.r.l. (16%); and Free Energia S.p.A. (2.375%). 5 Italy submitted that according to the National Airport Plan (PNA), i.e. the document by which the Italian Government outlines its investment strategy for national airport infrastructures, Forlì airport is a secondary airport “that, by its own features, may become a cargo airport and a hub for aeronautical training and aircraft maintenance”. The activities of Forlì airport are currently limited to general aviation, with no scheduled commercial flights. Further, the airport has not yet submitted to ENAC for approval the business plan that is required by law to initiate the authorisation procedure to be in full operation, which will normally take at least five years. 6 Communication from the Commission - Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines, OJ C 99, 4.4.2014, p. 3. 7 As defined in point 25(12) of the Aviation Guidelines: the two airports are located within less than 100 kilometres or 60 minutes travelling time by car, bus, train or high-speed train. 2 (7) According to the Italian authorities, Rimini and Ancona airports present different operational profiles in terms of configuration and functionality. (8) Firstly, there are significant differences in the origin of the flows of passenger traffic at the two airports. For Rimini airport, most passengers arrive from outside the Union (36% of which in charter flights), while for Ancona airport only 15% of passengers arrive from third countries. (9) Secondly, there are significant differences in the type of traffic of the two airports. Freight traffic is relatively important in Ancona airport due to its location in an intermodal hub, while it is virtually inexistent in Rimini airport.8 As regards passenger traffic, the split between leisure and business trips is balanced in Ancona airport, while leisure travel constitutes the great majority in Rimini airport. Furthermore, while passenger traffic is relatively stable throughout the year in Ancona airport, traffic in Rimini airport is very seasonal and concentrated in the summer period, with no flights on some days in the winter. (10) The Italian authorities claim a positive and meaningful correlation between the growth of passenger traffic at the two airports, because increases in passenger traffic in Ancona airport do not coincide with decreases in passenger traffic in Rimini airport and vice versa. (11) As for the Airport’s financial situation, according to the Italian authorities, AIRiminum has a particularly efficient business model, which enabled it to achieve positive economic and financial results in parallel with a constant increase in passenger traffic. Based on the 2018 financial statement, revenues amounted to approximately EUR 8.6 million and the consolidated net profit was approximately EUR 0.7 million.9 The good management of AIRiminum is also demonstrated by the solidity of the capital structure of the Airport, which shows a positive net financial position due to the cash flow from operating activities and the lack of bank liabilities. (12) However, the Italian authorities explained that AIRiminum is not able to finance the planned investment project with only its own resources. Based on the estimates developed by AIRiminum, without public funding, the operator of Rimini airport would incur approximately EUR 5.6 million total losses over the period 2021-2033. The result would be even worse in a scenario involving a higher percentage of debt capital used instead of AIRiminum’s own resources. As a result, AIRiminum could not implement its business plan without the aid to be granted by the Emilia-Romagna Region. 8 According to data published by Assoaeroporti, the Italian Airports association, in 2018 Ancona airport handled 6.741 tons freight, compared to only 34 tons freight handled at Rimini airport. In addition, the PNA identifies Ancona airport amongst the airports with existing cargo traffic to be further developed, while Rimini airport is not even mentioned in that context. 9 In 2017, the volume of revenues at consolidated level was EUR 9.6 million and the consolidated net profit amounted to approximately EUR 1.7 million. 3 2.2. Legal basis (13) Italy notified the draft text of the legal basis for the investment aid to Rimini airport. The relevant provision of the regional law, which will be passed by the Emilia-Romagna Region, authorises the regional Government to adopt the decisions needed to allocate the aid funds from the regional budget to AIRiminum. 2.3. Overview of the investment aid (14) The Italian authorities have notified an investment aid to AIRiminum to support the investments contemplated in its business plan for the years 2021-2033. The business plan aims at increasing the connectivity and accessibility of the Romagna area,10 which is crucial to the economic development of the Emilia- Romagna Region. It promotes the development of further routes between the Emilia-Romagna Region and the other Italian regions, while also strengthening the international connections of the area. (15) The investments set out in the business plan will improve the quality of the infrastructure of the Airport, which is a relevant access point to the region for intra-Union flights. For that reason, the investment aid will guarantee a greater flow of visitors and tourists, in particular in the Romagna area, a major touristic center with 3 000 hotels and 1 million beds in the several accommodation choices.11 (16) The Italian authorities stated that those infrastructural investments are necessary to achieve four main objectives: (i) to align the airport infrastructure with the requirements set out by the EASA certification for aerodromes under Regulation (EC) No 216/200812 and the standard of service requested by ENAC in light of the so-called “Gap Analysis” carried out in December 2018 under Regulation (EU) No 139/2014.13 ENAC issued the EASA certification for Rimini airport on 28 December 2017 conditional upon the implementation by 2022 of an action plan for flight operations infrastructures;14 10 The Emilia-Romagna Region consists of two main geographical areas: the Emilia area extends from Bologna (included) going westward and northward; the Romagna area goes from Bologna eastwards.