Funds will arrive in ITA’s coffers before the end of the month, according to Tuesday’s decision at an extraordinary plenary meeting of Ministry of Economy advisers. The ministry is a 100 percent shareholder of the airline.
The EU gave the green light for ITA to begin in September 2021 and has approved €1.35 billion in state funding, provided the airline eventually stands on its own.
ITA Airways President Alfredo Altavilla, who was twice deprived of his operational powers by the state, resigned Monday night amid negotiations to sell the state airline. Altavilla is accused of blocking the sale of ITA Airways to US investment fund Certares, which works with Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines.
Fiat’s former European boss has never concealed that he favored a rival offer from Lufthansa and Italian-Swiss shipping company MSC.
After a government injection of 700m euros in 2021, ITA Airways would receive another 400m euro tranche in 2022, which was confirmed on Tuesday and in 2023.
Over the years, the Italian state had spent more than 13 billion euros in vain efforts to get its predecessor Alitalia back on track.
(SDA)