MILAN: Embattled Italian airline Alitalia has decided to push back the deadline for subscription to a capital increase to November 27, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The deadline was initially set to expire on Thursday.
The delay is intended to give shareholders, such as Air France-KLM, time to look at a new strategic plan which was adopted by Alitalia's board at a meeting late Wednesday.
The company said the new plan proposed "reducing the number of medium-range planes, but keeping the number of flights seen in 2013 thanks to a better use of the fleet".
It also said "the number of international and intercontinental flights will be increased".
The "decision to delay to November 27 the deadline for subscription to the capital increase" was taken to allow shareholders" to get acquainted with the revised plan," the statement said.
Major shareholder Air France-KLM, which owns 25 percent of Alitalia, has yet to announce whether it will take part in the 300-million-euro ($400-million) recapitalisation plan to save the Italian airline which is debt to the tune of 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion).
Alitalia was already bailed out by taxpayers five years ago in a controversial operation that handed a consortium of private Italian companies a majority stake, part of which was later sold to Air France-KLM.
The still-struggling Italian airline is again flirting with bankruptcy, prompting the hasty recapitalisation plan. Italian energy group ENI has threatened to ground its fleet of planes by stopping fuel supplies because of unpaid debts.
Alitalia says Italian banks are lined up to lend it 200 million euros. And the state-owned Italian postal service has been tapped to contribute up to 75 million euros, triggering rivals' allegations of illegal protectionism.
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