The Alitalia assembly approved the contract with Etihad. This was announced by councilor Mario Volpi representing Odissea, leaving the Alitalia headquarters at the end of the meeting.
The signing of the agreement is scheduled for this afternoon, which will put an end to more than eight months of negotiations to save the Italian flag carrier. Yesterday, after a summit at Palazzo Chigi, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Maurizio Lupi communicated the intention of James Hogan, CEO of the Abu Dhabi company, to conclude today, after the Alitalia board meeting held yesterday evening.
Etihad will take over 49% of the Italian carrier in liquidity crisis, which according to the industrial plan should break even in 2017. The agreement allows the Arab company, which will invest over 1,2 billion euros over the next three years, to strengthen its network in Europe.
Meanwhile, during the night, Alitalia reached an agreement on the national contract for the air transport sector and on the measures to contain labor costs - already shared in recent weeks by the CGIL and CISL - with the UIL, the pilots' unions Anpac and the Anpav and Avia flight attendants.
According to Alitalia, the new measures will lead to savings of around 31 million euros for the remaining five months of the year. The signing of the agreement for the establishment of a new company is expected after the shareholders' meeting of Alitalia in Fiumicino, which must vote on the 300 million capital strengthening wanted by Etihad to face the 2014 losses (which come after the 569 million di rosso of 2013) and at the cost of any disputes.
The current shareholders of Alitalia, reported a source familiar with the situation, have undertaken to advance pro-rata 200 million cash before the closing of the capital increase to allow the company to operate until October.
