Others had to wait

Criticism of Salvini for short flight despite IT breakdown

The flight of Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini took off with only a short delay.(Bild: AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS)

During the worldwide IT breakdown on Friday, tens of thousands of passengers were also stranded at airports in Italy. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, of all people, was able to take off from Rome's Fiumicino Airport for Milan with only a short delay.

While most flights from Rome-Fiumicino were canceled between 12 noon and 2 p.m., the plane operated by Italian airline ITA Airways with Salvini and other politicians on board was able to take off, albeit around an hour later than planned.

"How is this possible?"
The opposition parties PD and AVS announced parliamentary questions about Salvini's flight. "How is it possible that, while thousands of citizens are suffering inconvenience, the plane with the transport minister on board departs on schedule?" asked the leader of the Italian Greens, Angelo Bonelli.

The flight of Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini took off with only a short delay.(Bild: AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS)

Salvini's right-wing governing party Lega replied that the minister had already booked the flight from Rome to Milan in economy class on Thursday evening. "Today's inconvenience was clearly not foreseeable," the Lega emphasized. Salvini threatened legal action against those who would accuse him of privileges.

Salvini's flight was not the only one
ITA Airways explained in a statement that a total of twelve aircraft had taken off from Rome-Fiumicino in the same period as Salvini's flight between 12 noon and 3 p.m. - ten short and medium-haul flights and two long-haul flights.

In addition, twelve of a total of 14 planned flights took off from Rome-Fiumicino to Milan-Linate on Friday.