EasyJet pulls back on Alitalia and the government's plans to save the company become even more complicated.
Through a press release, the English carrier has in fact put an end to any hypothesis of entry into the capital of the former national airline.
“Following conversations with Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and Delta Air Lines regarding the creation of a consortium to evaluate options for Alitalia's future operations – EasyJet has decided to withdraw from the process”. This is what the note reads.
"We confirm the commitment to Italy as a key market of the company, where EasyJet currently carries 18,5 million passengers every year, employing 1400 pilots and flight attendants with Italian employment contracts. We will continue to invest in the three bases of Milan, Naples and Venice - concludes the statement - as we have done in recent years, adding routes and capacities".
At this point the shareholding structure is redesigned around theFerrovie dello Stato-Delta Air Lines axis. According to the rumors published today by the Messenger, the US carrier would not reach more than 10% of the capital, not enough to be able to cover Alitalia's millionaire needs. For this reason, the Fs led by Gianfranco Battisti could even rise to 40%, 10 percent more than what has been proposed to date.
Delta Air Lines "continues to explore ways to work with Ferrovie dello Stato and maintain our partnership with Alitalia in the future," the US company said. “Discussions continue as Alitalia is a long-term partner of Delta,” she added.
Doubts about the future of Alitalia remain and it is said that it will not return to the table the Lufthansa hypothesis. However, the entry of the Germans would have two contraindications. The first concerns their desire to obtain the majority of the company, a request which, however, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio has no intention of satisfying. The second concerns the number of redundancies contained in the company's plan: 6.000, against the 3.000 envisaged by the options currently being considered.
Two years after the start of extraordinary administration, the light at the end of the tunnel continues to be a mirage for Alitalia.
