Alitalia’s board elected to continue discussions with Etihad over a rescue plan involving the Gulf carrier purchasing a 49% stake in Alitalia.
Alitalia was kept going by a €500 million rescue package last year, but once again faces grounding unless a deal can be struck with Etihad, as the Italian airline could run out of cash by August.
The new deal involves Etihad investing more than €500 million in a plan to restructure debt and return Alitalia to profitability by 2017.
Up to 2,200 job losses are also expected as part of the deal. “Etihad are inflexible on this”, said Alitalia CEO Gabriele Del Torchio, who hopes the deal can be finalized in July.
Etihad also owns stakes in Air Berlin and Aer Lingus.