Alitalia adviser to meet British Airways on rescue plan

Alitalia's adviser will soon present its rescue plan for the airline to British Airways, considered by Italy as a possible foreign partner for the bankrupt airline, an executive told a newspaper. "Soon we will present the plan to British Airways as well," an executive at Intesa Sanpaolo, the Italian bank behind the plan, said in an interview published in business daily Il Sole 24 Ore on Saturday.
Gaetano Micciche, who heads the bank's corporate and investment banking division, has already presented the plan to Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, and he said he had got a positive response from both airlines. British Airways, which has agreed to a tie-up with Iberia and American Airlines , would not consider a partnership with Alitalia, an industry source has previously told Reuters.
Air France-KLM, whose take-over of Alitalia fell apart this year over union opposition, has said it is ready to take a minority stake in a revived carrier. Lufthansa, which is also looking at Austrian Airlines, has always said Italy as an important market for it.
Finding a foreign alliance for Alitalia after its restructuring is considered key for the success of the rescue plan, which involves Italian investors buying its best parts and relaunching it as a smaller, more efficient carrier. But Intesa Sanpaolo's chief executive said on Saturday a partnership would never lead to a foreign airline getting a majority stake in Alitalia.
"The idea that Air France-KLM could have the majority is groundless," Corrado Passera told reporters at a business conference near this lakeside town north of Milan. "It has never been discussed nor has it been put on the table," he said. "A majority stake (held by a foreign airline) has been excluded."
His words reiterated a comment made on Friday by the bank's spokesman in reaction to a report in France's La Tribune that said Air France-KLM could become a majority owner of Alitalia within five years. Italy's government has also stressed the airline will remain under Italian control and foreign partners can only buy a minority stake.