AIRLINES

Continental-Alitalia Alliance Advances: The proposed marketing agreement between the U.S. and Italian airlines won tentative approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Under the code-sharing plan, the airlines would be able to sell each other’s tickets. They could link end-to-end flights into a single long-haul offering, or one carrier could simply sell flights operated by another. This allows carriers to sell more tickets, and such arrangements are becoming more common in the industry. Continental and Alitalia would be able to advertise and sell service between Newark, N.J., and Rome, though Continental would operate the flights. The carriers intend to add new service between Newark and Milan and between Houston and Rome by early 1995.