Lufthansa has offered €250 million to take over a large part of Alitalia’s activities, including half of its staff and around 100 aircraft, Italian newspaper Il Messagero reports today.
From a list of seven candidates, including British low-cost carrier easyJet, Lufthansa has made the best offer. The German airline is keen to restructure the ailing Italian airline into a “New Alitalia” with a lighter structure. If the Italian government accepts the offer, Lufthansa is committed to further invest in the airline.
Various sources told the Italian press that Lufthansa wants to keep 100 aircraft (from 123) and around 6,000 employees (half from the current 11,500 employees). Lufthansa however is not interested in Alitalia’s ground handling activities, which employs around 3,000 people.
Lufthansa will also keep part of the long-haul routes to North- and Latin America from Rome Fiumicino, while the airports of Milan (Malpensa and Linate) will be used for its medium-haul network.
A new meeting between delegates from the Lufthansa group and the three commissioners responsible for managing Alitalia is foreseen next Thursday, the deadline for the Alitalia sale has been extended to 30 April 2018.
