Future of ITA Airways is up to new Italian government

ITA Airways is in a wait-and-see position when it comes to what the new Italian government will decide on continuing the bidding process for a partial sale of the airline. A consortium of Certares and Delta Airlines plus Air France-KLM is currently the preferred bidder to acquire a minority share. After the elections last month, the situation could be fully open again, although that’s not something that CEO Fabio Lazzerini expects. Lazzerini was talking to AirInsight and other media on the sidelines of the World Aviation Festival in Amsterdam on October 5. Future of ITA Airways is up to new Italian government.

On August 31, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said it had selected the Certares consortium

as the preferred bidder ahead of the offer from Swiss shipping and logistics MSC Group and Lufthansa Group. But that was under the previous government. On September 25, Italy elected a right-wing majority. It is likely that Giorgia Meloni of Fratelli d’Italia (Italian Brothers) will now try to form a new government. During the campaign, Meloni said she opposed selling a majority share of ITA Airways to a foreign bidder. After the elections, Meloni and Fratelli d’Italia changed their position and said they no longer had objections.

Lazzerini said that the legal process for the divestment of part of ITA Airways was approved last February, so it should be obvious that this process will be executed. “Of course, there is now a new government coming, I would say in a couple of weeks. They are fully entitled to decide if they want to change the process or continue, that is not in our hands.”