Alitalia saved by the Government and reborn as ITA Airways

[sn26567]

Etihad confirms investment offer to Alitalia

Etihad Airways has confirmed that it will forward a letter detailing the conditions precedent and the criteria for a proposed equity investment by Etihad Airways that have been negotiated with Alitalia and its stakeholders over the past months.

The Italian Government already looks favourably at the Etihad Airways-Alitalia partnership. Upon confirmation by the Board of Alitalia and its stakeholders of their acceptance of Etihad’s terms, the airlines will proceed to final documentation in order to complete the proposed transaction, in line with EU and other regulatory requirements.

[ticketbuyer]

This announcement was delayed until after the EU elections. It comes on the day when Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, riding high on a 40% vote, announced his 'Sbloccare Italia', Unblock Italy, campaign to reduce bureaucracy and intransigent labour laws. The approx. 2800 redundancies required by Etihad goes directly against one of Italy's most powerful labour lobbies. If Etihad succeed it will change much more than just Alitalia. I hope Alitalia, and Italy, will fly high again and realise their full potential.
Incidentally, the reason AF-KLM pulled out of a deal to buy Alitaila a few years ago was because of similar union intransigence on redundancies.
I flew Alitalia three weeks ago and the flights were not only very pleasant but as cheap as Ryanair.
However I kept the boarding passes as souvenirs just in case Alitalia fails

[sn26567]

The board of Alitalia has approved a tie-up proposal with Etihad Airways. Alitalia chairman Roberto Colaninno and chief executive Gabriele Del Torchio are charged with negotiating details of the deal with the Abu Dhabi airline.

Etihad has for months been negotiating to buy up to 49pc of the Italian flag carrier, which is facing bankruptcy. But talks have have stumbled over Alitalia’s heavy debt load and forecast cuts to some 2,200 jobs, out of a total of 12,800, as part of the deal.

Officials in northern Italy have also raised concerns over the potential impact on Milan’s Malpensa airport, which they fear could be seriously penalised by the deal.

On the jobs front, new talks between Alitalia management and unions were set for Monday, Italian media said.

Italian transport minister Maurizio Lupi warned earlier this week that negotiations would have to be wrapped up by mid-July on the tie-up with Etihad, which he said was prepared to invest up to €1.25bn in Alitalia by 2018.

Full details in The Daily Telegraph through Skift.com: http://skift.com/2014/06/14/alitalias-b ... -49-stake/

[Boeing767copilot]

Etihad to Buy 49% Stake in Alitalia

http://online.wsj.com/articles/etihad-t ... 1403685852

[quixoticguide]

The Etihad Statement about Alitalia.

https://www.aviation24.be/forums/viewtopic ... 31&t=53614

[ticketbuyer]

It will probably be a new company, Alitalia number 3, with 51% consisting of the good parts of the present Alitalia-CIA and 49% Etihad cash.

[sn26567]

EU seeks clarification over possible state aid to Alitalia

European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia has written to the Italian government requesting clarification on possible state aid to ailing airline Alitalia, which is aiming to tie up with Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad.

Almunia asked for a full transcript of the meeting of Alitalia’s board on Oct 11, 2013 at which it was agreed that the state-owned Poste Italiane would take a stake in the airline. In addition, Almunia asked for a copy of a so-called “fairness opinion” provided by Credit Suisse.

The letter, which requested a response by July 22, also asked for an update on the state of negotiations between Alitalia and Etihad, which agreed last week to buy a 49 percent stake in the loss-making Italian airline.

After Reuters and Euronews

[sn26567]

Alitalia set to clinch Etihad stake deal on August 8

Italian airline Alitalia is due to clinch a tie-up deal with Abu Dhabi's Etihad on Aug. 8 in a deal Rome hopes will turn the loss-making flag carrier into a money spinner.

Italy's government is keen to sell a 49 percent stake in the Rome-based company to the Abu Dhabi airline and conclude talks which have dragged on for more than seven months.

Chief Executive Gabriele Del Torchio said after the meeting that the Italian airline's most recent proposal to Etihad on issues including how to deal with its 800 million euro debt pile had been well received by the prospective buyer.

Alitalia's board approved a capital hike of up to 300 million euros earlier on Friday, recommending shareholders raise a previously agreed limit by 50 million euros.

At a meeting on Aug. 8, shareholders will also vote on the capital hike, intended to cover any losses the airline might make before a tie-up is finalised and pay for past liabilities.

The capital raising was one of a raft of conditions put forward by Etihad, which also demanded Alitalia cut some of its 14,000 staff, including the cabin crew who once wore uniforms designed by Giorgio Armani.

Italy's post office operator would invest 70 million euros in Alitalia, via a separate vehicle which sources said would allow it to avoid taking on the company's debt and other liabilities.

State-owned Poste Italiane paid 75 million euros for a 20 percent stake last year as part of a government-engineered rescue package for the airline.

Etihad has never said how much it plans to pay for the stake in Alitalia, but Lupi said in June the Abu Dhabi-based company was prepared to invest up to 1.25 billion euros over the next four years to buy the stake and revamp the carrier.

Owning a chunk of Alitalia would give Etihad access to Europe's fourth-largest travel market and expand its reach in Europe, where it already has stakes in Air Berlin and Aer Lingus.

More details: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/alitalia ... 59779.html

[sn26567]

The deal has been inked.

Etihad will pay €387.5 million for a 49% stake in Alitalia. This is part of a much larger restructuring plan worth €1,758 million to rebuild a competitive and sustainably profitable future.

viewtopic.php?p=303773#p303773

[White Light]

Very good news to read that another long established will not disappear

[airazurxtror]

Air France had tried before.
It will be most interesting to see Etihad at work in Italy.
The two mentalities are, to say the least, not exactly similar.

[Flanker2]

This shows that EY doesn't have a plan, IMO.
A dual hub doesn't work in Italy and FCO is not suited as an intercontinental hub.

It must be nice to have spare cash that you can throw out at will.
To be profitable, AZ needs to change strategy completely. To do that, they first need a capable management. But Italy doesn't have know-how in aviation or other forms of management, it's just not there.

If I were them, I would give Mr. Chew Choon Seng a ringidinding.
Since he retired from SQ, we don't hear a lick anymore about SQ. During the Chew period, SQ was all over the place making a billion a year.

[RoMax]

Etihad is building a global intercontinental network and buying cheap equity stakes in suffering airlines to tap into their regional markets. In the end, Etihad is running away with the passengers and the money. I'm convinced Etihad is making this work for THEMSELF, I doubt all airlines partly owned by Etihad will benefit in the same way. Look at Air Berlin. Etihad earned most of its investments in this German airline back already (mostly through new passenger streams from/via Germany), while AB itself is still suffering to earn a penny.

I believe their stakes in Jet Airways and Alitalia will have the exact same effect. Etihad will benefit from enormous new revenue streams from/via Italy and India, both two leading aviation markets in their respective region, but I doubt Alitalia and Jet Airways will benefit that much.

[White Light]

Sorry in French only (try google translation if you cannot read French)

http://www.air-journal.fr/2014-08-09-et ... 12217.html

Main features:

- Etihad has got five pair of (AZ slots, I presume) at LHR
- Etihad has committed nearly 700 million euros to develop and renew the fleet
- 1,635 jobs will have to go (out of about 14,000)
- Etihad intends to turn FCO into an intercontinental hub

[sn26567]

Among Etihad's plans for the Italian carrier are a greater focus on long-haul routes from Rome Fiumicino (5 new routes over the next 4 years) and Milan Malpensa (number of routes to more than double to 25 flights a week by 2018), while the number of narrow-body aircraft will be cut by 13 per cent.

Initial changes to Alitalia's schedule will begin this year when, starting from Winter 2014, it will increase its service between Rome Fiumicino and Abu Dhabi from 5-weekly to daily while also commencing a new daily Milan Malpensa to Abu Dhabi flight. Then, from Summer 2015, Alitalia will begin to offer connections to Abu Dhabi from other Italian cities such as Venice Marco Polo, Catania and Bologna.

Etihad will relaunch and expand Alitalia's defunct freight subsidiary, Alitalia Cargo, in order to exploit Italy's position as Europe's third largest cargo market.

Etihad has also purchased 5 Alitalia slot-pairs at London Heathrow for 60 million EUR. They will be leased back to the Italian airline.

More in the Alitalia/Etihad press release: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=54181

After ch-aviation and Etihad/Alitalia press release

[sn26567]

Alitalia to phase out Air One from October

Air One is set to be phased out as a brand with effect from October 1. According to a internal statement made public by Italy's La Stampa newspaper, the airline said its operations thereafter would be taken over by parent, Alitalia.

Among the required terms of the agreement with Etihad are a slimming down of the national carrier's fleet, workforce and operations.

"The Alitalia Group, in the pursuit of sustainability and as part of a process of streamlining its medium-haul fleet during the upcoming winter season, has decided to operate the services presently offered with the Air One brand, primarily with its own brand Alitalia," the statement read. "Consequently, beginning October 1, together with the usual closure of the summer season routes, most of the connections currently operated by Air One will be operated under the Alitalia brand and aircraft."

Air One intends to close its Catania, Palermo, and Venice Marco Polo bases on September 30 followed by Milan Malpensa, Verona, and Pisa which will also be closed down by October 30.

Following its merger with Alitalia in August 2008, Air One was repositioned as Air One "Smart Carrier" - Alitalia's budget subsidiary operating a fleet of nine A320-200s to 35 destinations in 12 countries.

After ch-aviation

[globetrotter]

A new airline named Air One is starting in India.

[sn26567]

Alitalia appointed Cramer Ball as a member of its board of directors, designated to be appointed as CEO from early March 2016. He replaces Silvano Cassano, who resigned in September 2015.

Cramer Ball comes from Etihad. He previously has worked at Jet Airways (another Etihad affiliate) where he was in charge of turning the company around and get it out of the red figures.

[convair]

To be followed in the "Strikes affecting Belgian Airports" thread...

[sn26567]

Alitalia is still considering the future of its long-term partnership with Air France KLM, which is due to end in January 2017.