Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

ALITALIA

Surge in passenger number helps struggling Alitalia take off

Italian airline Alitalia, which went into administration last May has seen a rise in passenger turnover for the second month in a row, one of its bosses said Sunday.

Published: 8 July 2018 17:04 CEST
Surge in passenger number helps struggling Alitalia take off
The airline which employs more than 11,000 people has struggled to compete with low-cost European rivals.Photo: AFP

The results prove the company “is on the right track,” said Luigi Gubitosi, who was appointed by the government in May 2017 along with two others to steer the company then threatened with bankruptcy.

“We end the month of June with a growth of 10.6 percent in passenger numbers after a 7.6 percent growth in May,” he told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

“Over the second quarter, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) will be balanced after a loss of 100 million last year.”

The airline which employs more than 11,000 people has struggled to compete with low-cost European rivals.

It went into administration last May at the request of its shareholders after staff rejected job and salary cuts as part of a two-billion-euro ($2.4 billion) rescue plan.

It has been the subject of three offers, from German airline giant Lufthansa, another from US private equity group Cerberus, and a joint EasyJet-Air France bid.

The deadline for the sale, initially set for April, was postponed until late October by Rome.
 

AIRLINE

Italy insists €3bn cash injection for Alitalia is ‘not another rescue’

The Italian government announced plans on Thursday to inject at least three billion euros ($3.2 billion) into Alitalia to help save it from collapse in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Published: 8 May 2020 09:52 CEST
Italy insists €3bn cash injection for Alitalia is 'not another rescue'
Alitalia check-in counters stand empty at Rome's Fiumicino airport during Italy's lockdown. Photo: AFP

Economic Development Minister Stefano Patuanelli told the Senate the money was aimed at turning the struggling company into the national airline it had been throughout much of its 74-year history.

“This is not another rescue,” Italian media quoted Patuanelli as saying. “This is the company's relaunch.”

READ ALSO:

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government in March announced plans to renationalise Alitalia as part of a broader economic rescue package.

It then earmarked 500 million euros in support for the entire aviation sector.

The company filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and looked doomed in January when it failed to secure rescues from either the Italian state railway or Germany's Lufthansa.

Alitalia's management had asked government administrators in March to allow it furlough 4,000 of its 11,000 employees until more passengers are able, and willing, to fly.

The carrier's main trade union announced an agreement Thursday to suspend about 6,600 employees for seven months.

Patuanelli said government administrators intended to keep Alitalia's current fleet.

“There is no downsizing at the company,” the minister said.

SHOW COMMENTS