ROME (AFP) — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday that a rescue plan put together for near bankrupt flag carrier Alitalia means the company will remain Italian, as he had promised at polls in April.
"The management of Alitalia will remain in the hands of Italians," Berlusconi said after the government approved a rescue plan for the airline.
"Prospective foreign partners will take a stake (in the new company) only as minority shareholders," he told a news conference.
In Paris, Air France-KLM, spurned as a buyer in April, said it was ready to take a minority stake in the new company being set up to relaunch Alitalia.
Berlusconi claimed that his proposals had saved the airline from being sold off cheaply, as the previous government had planned, to France, Italy's main competitor in the international tourism market.
"We have avoided the solution proposed by the previous government which would have seen (Alitalia) sold off cheaply to the national company of Italy's main competitor in international tourism," he said, a clear reference to Air France-KLM.
"We had a duty to do something, we have done something concrete. We have succeeded," he said.
Talks between Air France-KLM and Alitalia on a full takeover and rescue collapsed in April when the airline's future became an issue in elections won by Berlusconi who promised voters an 'Italian solution' to its problems.
Berlusconi was speaking after his government adopted a new bankruptcy bill which lays the groundwork for Alitalia's rescue by allowing failing companies to speed up certain procedures such as selling shares and laying off workers.
A statement said the bill also relaxed certain anti-trust rules so as to allow Italy's second carrier Air One to take part in Alitalia's rescue.
A labour ministry statement said the cabinet would put in place a seven-year employment guarantee plan for Alitalia.
The proposals will to be submitted to Alitalia management on Friday.
An Air France-KLM spokeswoman told AFP in Paris meanwhile that "Air France-KLM confirms its interest and its wish to continue as the strategic partner for Alitalia.
"With this in mind, and if prospects for the new company are confirmed, Air France-KLM is ready to take a minority stake in the capital (of the new company) alongside the investors gathered together by (Italian bank) Intesa Sanpaolo."
The spokeswoman declined to give any indication of what stake Air France-KLM might take. The French carrier currently holds two percent of Alitalia.
Italian media reported Tuesday that a new company had been formed to take over ailing Alitalia's healthy assets and relaunch the carrier, while its debt and loss-making operations would be moved into another company.
Reports said 16 investors had pledged to support the new company, including top names in Italian industry and finance, with a total commitment likely to be worth around one billion euros.
Economic daily Il Sole 24 Ore said Thursday the new company was expected to turn an operating profit of 250 million euros (370 million dollars) in 2011.
The daily La Repubblica said it would focus on short- and medium-haul routes, serving 140 destinations rather than the current 190, while up to 7,000 jobs would be cut.
Alitalia employs 11,100 people in its air transport operations and a further 8,300 in maintenance and services.
The company, in which the Italian state has a 49.9 percent stake, has been surviving on a loan of 300 million euros made in late April from public funds after the collapse of the takeover talks with Air France-KLM.
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