Contributor - Europe

Cathy Buyck

Following months of delay and persistent changes to various deadlines—including the deadline to repay a government-backed €900 million bridge loan—the re-launch of Alitalia appears within reach as a second private investor group has won the right to participate in the rescue operation of Italy’s perennially loss-making national airline.

 


“Yesterday we received four expressions of interest regarding a possible participation in Alitalia,” a spokesman for state-owned railway operator Ferrovie dello Stato Italiano (FS), which leads efforts to find new shareholders and devise a business plan for the “New Alitalia,”&nbsp;told AIN. The board of directors considered the four proposals at its meeting on Monday, he said.&nbsp;

 


In a statement released Monday evening, FS said the board had identified Italian motorway and airport infrastructure group Atlantia as a partner alongside Delta Air Lines and the ministry of economy and finance on the Alitalia rescue operation. It will start working with the chosen partners “as soon as possible” to share the business plan and the other elements of the possible binding offer.

 


FS received expressions of interest from Atlantia, Italian construction company Toto Holding, and Claudio Lotito, owner and chairman of Rome soccer club S.S. Lazio. A fourth proposal came from Avianca majority shareholder German Efromovich, who—unsuccessfully—tried to participate in the privatization of TAP Air Portugal a couple of years ago. Until recently Efromovich served as chairman of the Latin-American Star Alliance airline, but in May the board forced him out.&nbsp;

 


The participation of Atlantia in the initial bidding remained uncertain and highly political owing to the company’s connection to the Morandi bridge disaster in Genoa August last year, but last week it confirmed it would submit a proposal, citing the “interest of its subsidiary Aeroporti di Roma for a competitive flag carrier generating traffic for the Rome airport system.” Controlled by the Benetton family, Atlantia manages Fiumicino and Ciampino airports in Rome and the three airports of Nice, Cannes-Mandelieu, and Saint Tropez in France.

 


Italian deputy prime minister and interior minister Matteo Salvini considers Atlantia a “natural partner” for Alitalia, though deputy prime minister and minister of economic development Luigi Di Maio is in charge of the dossier. In a Facebook post&nbsp;Sunday evening, Di Maio said hoped the most ambitious proposals would win. “We need a new Alitalia to contribute to tourism in the country, taking tourists from all over the world on long-range routes and bringing them into the world’s most beautiful country—Italy,” he wrote. &nbsp;

 


Details of the business plan for the New Alitalia has not yet gone public; completion of the plan and a formal signature of the new shareholder arrangement will most likely take a couple of months, according to a person familiar with the talks.&nbsp;

 


The shareholder plan for now calls for the state to hold the majority of the capital, with the treasury owning an initial 15 percent stake and FS 35 percent. Delta Air Lines would own a 10&nbsp;to 15 percent stake. The Atlanta-based carrier stands as the only airline still willing to invest in Alitalia. All European airlines, including EasyJet, which initially indicated an interest in participating in the Italian flag carrier’s re-launch, have pulled out.

 


“We can be pretty certain that Delta will not have to empty out its piggy bank to make this investment,” ICF Aviation global managing director Samuel Engel told AIN. Delta now earns nearly $4 billion per year and just increased its dividend by 15 percent.

 


Delta, he noted, has methodically advanced a plan to become the first “global” airline. However, Engel noted that Delta’s plan differs from some earlier cross-border airline strategies, such as those of Swissair and &nbsp;Etihad—which held a 49 percent stake when Alitalia filed for bankruptcy in 2017—in that it seeks to ensure each element fills a strategic need in the Atlanta-based airline’s network. “Despite Alitalia’s struggles, Italy remains an important European market, one you would prefer not to be in the hands of your competitors,” said Engel. “Having the heft to ‘own’ the major corporate contracts in a region has benefits that accrue to Delta, Air France-KLM, and all the other members of the growing Delta system.”&nbsp; &nbsp;

 


From the perspective of the state and the investment consortium, Delta provides credible airline managers and systems that will ease efforts to improve Alitalia’s efficiency, &nbsp;he added. “It doesn’t stop the LCCs barking at Alitalia’s door, but it does show that Alitalia has the wherewithal to hold the line against new entrants,” he concluded.

News about commercial airlines, including regulations, aircraft orders, safety, acquisitions, and mergers.

Airport Operator Atlantia, Delta Picked to Help Reboot Alitalia

Devising the final shareholder arrangement and business plan for Alitalia will likely take another couple of months. 

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Hanneke Weitering

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

Archer plans demo flight at 2025 World Expo in Osaka

JAL/Sumitomo Subsidiary Soracle To Operate Archer’s eVTOL in Japan

Charles Alcock

New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

Britain's new government is under pressure to invest in public infrastructure

How Regional Air Mobility Could Boost the UK's Strained Transport Network

News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

Danish charter and scheduled operator could buy up to 15 of the electric seaplanes

Nordic Seaplanes Signs for Elfly's Noemi Electric Amphibious Aircraft

Odys' blown-wing design is being developed for both uncrewed freighter and piloted airliner roles

Fiji Airways Plans To Connect Pacific Islands with Laila VTOL

Scotland-based regional airline aims to achieve zero carbon emissions

Loganair and Heart Team To Decarbonize UK Domestic Flights

UK green start-up airline wants to operate domestic services with zero carbon emissions

Ecojet Plans To Operate Arc Aerosystems' Linx P9 Hybrid Helicopter

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

The Boeing electronic flight bag solution will support the low-cost carrier’s 737NG and Max fleet

Ryanair to Use Jeppesen FliteDeck Pro 5.0 EFB 

News and developments about aircraft engines, including turbofan, turboprop, turboshaft and piston.

More In Airlines