Rome to take full control of Alitalia in June - minister

Toscana Aeroporti SpA

23/04/2020 17:29

MILAN, April 23 (Reuters) - The Italian government will take
full control of Alitalia  CAITLA.UL  in June, Industry Minister
Stefano Patuanelli said on Thursday, adding the airline would
have gone bust due to the coronavirus crisis otherwise.
    Alitalia has been run by state-appointed administrators
since May 2017 and the difficulties caused by the pandemic came
on top of deep-rooted financial problems for the business,
scuppering an earlier plan to sell it to private investors.
    The former national airline was founded shortly after World
War Two and has long struggled for profitability. This latest
move will put an end to 11 years of difficult private
management, which included three failed restructuring attempts.
    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last
week global airline losses from the coronavirus crisis could
total $314 billion this year, representing a 55% drop in
passenger revenue compared with last year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2C245N
    Patuanelli said Alitalia's revenue had shrunk by 87.5% so
far this year.      
    Speaking before a parliamentary committee for transport, the
minister said the government would create a new company at the
beginning of June that would take 100% of the airline.
    "The new Alitalia will start with a fleet of more than 90
aircraft compared with its current 113 airplanes," Patuanelli
said, denying reports the fleet could be cut to 30 planes.
    Thanks to the state intervention, Alitalia will be able to
compete effectively once the sector recovers, the minister said.
    "Until now Alitalia has been a crystal vase among steel
vases. The new company will kick off in the same position as
other airlines once the sector restarts," Patuanelli said,
adding the state would decide later whether to keep it under
government control.
    Patuanelli said he would discuss with the transport and
economy ministers a possible new international alliance for the
airline once an existing code-sharing agreement with U.S.
carrier Delta  DAL.N  expires on May 24. 
    Commenting on the hearing, the Italian union representing
pilots and flight assistants said the government needed to give
its green light to the use of a temporary layoff scheme to
shield Alitalia employees, of which there are 11,600 in total.
    Separately, the Italian lobby for airport operators
Assaeroporti forecast the number of passengers travelling to and
from airports in the country would total 120 million in 2020,
down from a previous estimate of 200 million.
    Assaeroporti asked for government support for liquidity and
investments to help airport operators survive to the crisis.
    Alitalia's hub is the Fiumicino airport in Rome, which is
operated by Aeroporti di Roma, part of infrastructure group
Atlantia  ATL.MI .

 (Reporting by Francesca Landini; Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((francesca.landini@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129437;
Reuters Messaging: reutersitaly.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))