Competing bids from Air One and a consortium led by Italian lawyer Antonio Baldassarre have been submitted following Air France-KLM”s move for the state-owned share of Italian carrier Alitalia yesterday.
The deadline for bids ends at lunchtime today (7 December) and Alitalia”s board of directors will meet again next week to select its preferred proposal.
The biggest surprise was German carrier Lufthansa”s decision not to enter the auction. Air France shares soared following the news, as the Franco-Dutch carrier is now the front runner ” it already has a cross-shareholding and commercial alliance with Alitalia.
Air One is a much smaller low-cost operator ” but it is Italian, and the company”s bid plays heavily on the nationalist card.
”Our flag carrier represents an asset which we cannot do without for the competitiveness of our country and the companies competing in an increasingly global marketplace,” said Air One founder and chairman, Carlo Toto.
”With the support of four major national and international banking groups, we have set up a strong and reliable entrepreneurial project, which will allow the restructuring and re-launch of the airline, preserving its Italian identity.
”In this way, we will be able to give Italy back the possibility to be directly and more efficiently connected to the rest of the world, and we will make the thousands of employees proud once again of belonging to a sound and competitive company.”
Air One has a five-year plan to restructure Alitalia, aiming for it to break even in 2009 and be profitable by 2010. It envisages investments totalling more than ”4bn ($5.9bn) mainly set aside for the renewal of the medium-haul fleet. Its core backers are Intesa Sanpaolo, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and financial advisor Goldman Sachs.
Air France said yesterday it would instigate major route expansion from Rome-Fiumicino and increase early morning departures and evening return flights from Milan to satisfy the needs of business travellers.
It also said it would ”count on the support of the Italian carrier”s entire workforce”.