An offer by Irish budget airline Ryanair to spend more than $1 billion in order to offer flights from Malpensa airport and expand its services at Orio al Serio airport in nearby Bergamo was turned down by SEA, the company which runs Milan's Malpensa and Linate airports.
''SEA did not consider Ryanair's proposal interesting,'' according to Alessia Viviani, who is responsible for sales and marketing for the Irish carrier in Italy.
The offer was made last September and would have allowed the budget airline to add 80 routes from the two airports and involved the acquisition of 18 new B737 aircraft by 2012.
In exchange for investing in Malpensa, Ryanair wanted SEA to provide ''greater efficiency and lower prices'', a spokesman for Europe's most successful low-cost airline said at the time.
SEA last week announced that it would sue Italian national carrier Alitalia for 1.25 billion euros for allegedly breaching their partnership agreement to make Malpensa Italy's second air transport hub, after Rome.
Alitalia has cut flights at Malpensa to reduce losses and make the airline more attractive for privatization.
When Ryanair announced its offer for the Milan airport, an airline spokesman said Malpensa ''has never achieved its full potential because it has always bet on the wrong horse: Alitalia''.
