EasyJet is interested in buying "certain parts" of Alitalia. This is confirmed by the director of operations in Italy of the low-cost company, Frances Ouseley. "The operation in its various phases will still require time, we are trying to get clarity from the commissioners, who hold the key to everything".
Ouseley, regarding the rumors of a possible consortium with Air France and Delta for the acquisition of our national airline, he commented ""this whole story comes out in the press in an extremely creative way, so we are unable to comment on media speculation within a process that has formal confidentiality implications" .
“We are focused on the short and medium range, we are strong on that - explained Ouseley - what I can say is that our solution completely satisfies the needs that the commissioners have expressed to us"
The indiscretion emerged on the occasion of the publication of the quarterly results of the British company, which closed the first three months of the current fiscal year (October-December 2017) with a turnover of 1,14 billion pounds, with an increase of 14,4% over the same period last year. The volume of passengers involved also did well, rising by 8% to 18,8 million.
However, EasyJet does not seem to be the only one currently interested in Alitalia's short and medium-haul routes. Also Wizz Air appears to be a potential suitor. The Hungarian low-cost airline, which has grown in recent years, is strongly interested in the Alitalia dossier, as stated by CEO Jozsef Varadi.
Wizz Air however has not any strategic interest in the Alitalia brand: “Everything that develops on the Italian market is important to us. But not the whole company, if not some assets. This doesn't mean that we don't follow the sale operation closely: but we look at a part of what Alitalia offers and which affects our particular activities”.
