It was already difficult to think of selling Alitalia without stews, but the Air Berlin crisis complicates everything. The German government has had no qualms in pressing Lufthansa to take over the controlling stake in Air Berlin, the competitor company that went bankrupt due to the lack of funds from its main shareholder Etihad, the same as Alitalia.
Lufthansa takes its time and lets it be known that it is only interested in the planes of Air Berlin (90 out of a fleet of 140) but not the shareholding, much less the majority. But the German government, with the general elections in September just around the corner, will not give up so easily. And at that point it will become difficult for Lufthansa to play two tables or turn its back on Air Berlin to land on Alitalia, which is also of interest to the German company and which could be bought for a pittance since it loses money even when its planes are overflowing.
Fortunately, it seems that easyJet and Condor are also interested in taking over Air Berlin or part of its assets, but if the game turns political in Germany, one can imagine how it will end. In the most optimistic of the hypotheses, Lufthansa, if it were to somehow take over Air Berlin, could take some of Alitalia's assets but no more. More will be known on October 2, when – barring extensions due to the electoral scent – the terms for submitting binding offers for Alitalia will expire.
