It’s been reported that the Italian Flag carrier – Alitalia – in currently in talks with Etihad Airways of Abu Dhabi over investment in Alitalia.
These talks which are now in their final phases may take another 30 days to finalise.
Alitala has gone from one disaster to another, and was recently bailed out to the tune of €300millon for it to escape bankruptcy. The airline has €800million of debt still to service.
The previous major equity partner – Air France-KLM Group have chosen not to contribute any further to the airline (and thus reducing its holding)
And this… doesn’t feel right. Etihad has investments in a fair few carriers – Air Seychelles, Air Berlin, Aer Lingus, Darwin Airline, Jet Airways and Virgin Australia.
Whilst this would give Etihad a bigger presence in Europe, there is major work to be done with Alitalia in the vainest of hopes of turning around the airline – be that it routes or staffing.
And Alitalia staff aren’t known for liking changes.
Why do Etihad continue to remind me of the Hunter Strategy the old SwissAir had at one point… and ultimately paid the price for?
If Etihad could turn Alitalia around, it could really pay off. I’m honestly not sure myself…
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News today is that Lufthansa is going to do everything it can to block this investment by Etihad. Their argument is that Etihad–and consequently Alitalia–won’t be subject to the same financial and subsidy rules as other EU carriers. Don’t know if it’s a valid argument for preventing the investment or not, just playing messenger.
It’s a darn good argument if this counts as aid. Not they it matters – Alitalia has been baulked out by the Italian government indirectly when the postal service took a share in the company….