British Airways and Air France reportedly interested in Alitalia

In what appears to be a stunning turnaround for bankrupt Italian flag carrier Alitalia, British Airways, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are all reportedly interested in possibly purchasing a stake in the resurrected and revamped airline. Only a few weeks ago, no major foreign company appeared interested in Alitalia, which generates a loss of around two million euros per day and has been in the red since 1999. In fact, even local Italian investors seemed few and far between for a state-owned company that the Italian government has been trying to privatize for well over a year.

Media reports now suggest that Europe’s three largest airlines are all interested in potentially playing a role in a restructured Alitalia. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative government has already found a group of Italian investors who are willing to pump as much as one billion euros into a privatized Alitalia, which would also be merged with rival carrier, Air One.

Douglas McNeill, an industry analyst, however, has doubts as to whether or not British Airways will actually be interested in submitting a firm bid. McNeill believes that it is far more likely that BA will merely “observe” what it going on with Air France’s attempt, while focusing more on its own merger with American Airlines and Iberia.

Thank you to MarketWatch for the initial report.

www.alitalia.com