Easyjet has expressed renewed interest in Alitalia, saying it has submitted a proposal with a ‘consortium’ of other airlines, while Lufthansa has set out its ideas for restructuring the failing airline.
Easyjet did not name the other airlines involved in the expression of interest, or any other details of the document.
Bloomberg claims a source said Air France KLM was part of the consortium, but the group denied any interest in Alitalia.
A statement on its corporate site says: “Given the nature of the process, the content of the expression of interest is subject to confidentiality. There is no certainty at this stage that any transaction will proceed and Easyjet will provide a further update in due course if and when appropriate.”
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Lufthansa has said it foresees “further talks” after submitting its ideas for a “new” Alitalia. The airline has previously said it would only be interested in buying a stake in a restructured version of Alitalia and wasn’t in the market to purchase the whole airline.
Alitalia, which went into administration in May last year, said it has received three new bids.
The Italian government has given the airline at least €900 million since last year to keep it flying and postponed the deadline for making a decision on the sale from November last year to this month.