Rome - Italy's near-bankrupt flagship carrier, Alitalia, is to continue with regular scheduled flights, at least until Monday September 22, according to the airline's government-appointed commissioner.

"Much depends on what will happen in the next few days," Commissioner Augusto Fantozzi said in the aftermath Thursday of the collapse of a bid by a consortium of private investors to take control of the state's controlling stake in Alitalia.

Fantozzi said that by law the company was compelled to continue providing services as long as funds are available. The commissioner indicated last week that money to buy fuel was in short supply.

Athens - More than 200 workers at Greek state carrier Olympic Airlines blocked the taxiway at Athens International Airport for more than 20 minutes Thursday over plans to shut down and privatise the airline.

The demonstration ended up blocking the runway but did not affect any flights, officials at the airport said.

Madrid  - The Spanair MD-82 jetliner that crashed in Madrid on August 20 was started by the co-pilot, press reports said Thursday.

The reports quoted a preliminary report by a commission investigating the accident, which has been leaked to the media.

The plane crashed at the airport after take-off, killing 154 and injuring 18 people.

The information transmitted to the plane's black box originated in the computer of the 31-year-old co-pilot, who had more than 1,050 hours of experience flying similar planes, according to the daily El Pais.

It was not unusual for the captain and co-pilot to take turns during flights, sources of the aviation sector were quoted as saying.

Helsinki - Finnish flag carrier Finnair is to slash 400 jobs after failing to agree on wage cuts with unions, the company said Wednesday.

Brussels - The European Commission on Wednesday approved Greek government plans for the privatization of Olympic Airlines, but told the carrier that it must pay back 850 million euros (1.2 billion dollars) in illegal state aid from the sale of its assets.

Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said an investigation had shown that Greece's ailing flagship carrier had receive financial help from the government since 2005.

"This aid is incompatible with the (European Union) treaty," Tajani said.

At the same time, the commissioner approved plans for a new, smaller carrier, which will be born from the ashes of Olympic and will likely be called Pantheon Airways.

Madrid - Spanair has instructed pilots to increase checks on takeoff warning systems of MD planes after the August 20 crash at Madrid airport that killed 154 people, press reports said Wednesday.

A commission investigating the accident has found that the wing flaps of the MD-82 which crashed were not correctly deployed, according to a preliminary draft report leaked to the media. Spanair confirmed that it had received a copy of the report.

The flaps are moveable panels on the rear edge of a plane's wings that help lift it on take-off.

The take-off warning system that should have alerted the pilots about the problem did not sound, the report was quoted as saying.