Ita Airways, Certares Delta and Air France: it is negotiated with the Mef

ROME. Turnaround on the fate of the former Alitalia: the government is ready to announce the end of the very long soap opera. Once MSC-Lufthansa’s offer has been defeated, “an exclusive negotiation with the consortium formed by Certares Management Llc, Delta Airlines Inc. and Air France-KLM SA” will start today.
This was communicated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance following the procedure governed by the Dpcm 11 February 2022 and aimed at the transfer of control of Ita Spa, the company born from the ashes of the national airline.

The consortium’s offer, the Mef said, was deemed to be more in line with the objectives set by the Dpcm.
The offer led by the US fund according to the Treasury – which today is the sole shareholder of the Italian company – “was deemed more in line with the objectives set by the Dpcm”, the statement continues. “At the conclusion of the exclusive negotiation, binding agreements will be signed only in the presence of content that is fully satisfactory for the public shareholder”, underlines the ministry.
Minister Daniele Franco who manages the privatization yesterday anticipated the verdict to Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Lufthansa: we take note but the joint offer with MSC is the best
«From our point of view, our joint offer with MSC was and continues to be the best solution for Ita. We take note of the decision of the Italian government to take a path that allows greater influence of the state and does not provide for a complete privatization of Ita ”. This was announced by Lufthansa after the MEF’s decision to negotiate exclusively with the consortium formed by Certares-Delta and Air France, for the sale of Ita.
«Even without a collaboration with Ita – continues the note – the Lufthansa Group maintains an excellent position on the Italian market. With our Italian airline Air Dolomiti and all our airline brands we already have a strong presence, with around 4 million passengers and over 130 daily departures from 21 destinations. We will continue to expand this positioning with our strength and to further develop our offer to offer the best service to our Italian customers and passengers ».

Political reactions, Lupo (M5s): Mef proves not to know the air market
«As expected, the Mef also today confirmed its total lack of knowledge of the air market. As per the manual, the same man in the period of the negotiations with the EU, has bowed to non-development with a mediocre vision of the system. There is talk of the development of African routes, but no one says what percentages these flights have on the main hub. Who knows, maybe they should ask Adr? Maybe they should fight for real market consolidation? But so much in those parts we only talk about appointments, that is, who we take away and who we put according to who governs, and money: put new ones on the company and then promptly lose twice as much. Greetings ItaAirways, congratulations to the non-development system and the sublime minds behind it. You still have time to understand how air transport works, but maybe you don’t care. We talk about Italianness as a slogan. In this legislature we started by giving money to Alitalia, the next one has this prospect too ». Thus in a note the senator M5s Giulia Lupo.