Alitalia and Lufthansa to become International Partners

Lufthansa is in the position of becoming an international partner with Alitalia, according to La Stampa. However, Air France can’t be completely ruled out as a potential partner, says the paper. On Friday, it was said by some that British Airways doesn’t have an interest in partnering with Alitalia. It has also been said that Intesa Sanpaolo, which is drawing a plan for rescuing Alitalia, is going to have a meeting on Monday with the investors that have agreed to become part of the association that is seeking to purchase a controlling share amount in the carrier. Intesa Sanpaolo will present the final and official offer at that time to the board meeting for Alitalia on Friday.

The government, which seeks to sell their 49.9 percent hold in the airline, is going to introduce a decree that will change the insolvency rules for allowing Alitalia to be sectioned off into two separate companies. One of the companies will be put in a special administration. Meanwhile, the other company will be purchased by the association, according to Il Sole. The paper says that the question of Lufthansa being an international partner with Alitalia is not going to be discussed just yet, but will be talked about later. They also say that Alitalia is anticipated to report a loss of more than 400 million euros upon the release of their results for the first half of the year on Friday, canceling the effect of the recent loan of 300 million euros, which was arranged by the government.

Go to www.alitalia.com for more information.