Fresh money for Alitalia: The Italian government is ready to help the troubled airline with another bridging loan. This emerges from a draft financial programming for 2020. It speaks of 350 million euros. The term should be six months.
Alitalia has been insolvent since May 2017. The then state bridging loan of 900 million euros should soon be used up. It was planned that the Italian State Railways (FS) and the infrastructure company Atlantia would take over together with the US airline Delta Air Lines and the Italian Ministry of Finance Alitalia. There should be a binding offer by Tuesday of this week.
On Tuesday evening, however, only two broadly identical statements came from FS and Atlantia, in which they reaffirmed their interest in getting started. However, they made them dependent on a number of conditions: Among other things, another company with a "significant share" must participate. This was understood in Italian media as an invitation to Delta, with more than the previously intended 10 percent to be there.
Alitalia has been under the supervision of three state commissioners since the bankruptcy. How it will continue after the deadline was not clear on Thursday.
The Italian consumer protection organization Codacons protested against new state aid and announced in case a new lawsuit to the European Commission. "To date, Alitalia has cost with rescue, loans and other public intervention, the nice sum of 8.6 billion euros only in the last decade," said Codacons President Carlo Rienzi, according to the news agency Ansa.
