Germany's Lufthansa could be set to invest up to €200 million in struggling carrier Alitalia, according to new reports.
The Italian carrier is running out of funding options and time to find them having been granted an extra extension by Italy’s industry ministry to gain a binding bid by 21 November.
A report by Reuters suggests that Lufthansa had written to Italy’s industry ministry and rail company Ferrovie dello Stato, which has pledged to take a stake in the airline and which is leading the effort to find new investors.
In its letter, Lufthansa said it was open to putting in fresh funds to Alitalia but questions remain about its priorities. The letter did not contain a precise figure but Lufthansa is ready to stump up between €150 million and €200 million, the Reuters source said.
Lufthansa in response has issued a statement which said: “We are not commenting on this."
Alitalia has struggled for years to be profitable and flirted many times with bankruptcy, initially filing for this in 2017.