Alitalia bought by Air France KLM

The airline had said that it found trading conditions difficult in the high competitive market and that it had lost almost 3 billion Euros since 2000. At the current rate it would have had to stop trading and flying by this summer.

Air France-KLM which owns the KLM and Air France airlines has paid over 139 million Euros for the airline and has a three year recovery plan for the airline and plans to return Alitalia to profitability within 12 months.

It is estimated that the restructuring and reconstruction plan will look to cut 1,500 jobs and the Air France-KLM looking for a capital increase of one billion Euros in loands to fund the relaunch of Alitalia.

Passengers who have purchased tickets for Alitalia flights are advised to contact the airline, or agency they bought their tickets from.

The deal is expected to take several months to complete, but hopes are that it can be completed by July.

Airline Booking and Information

• Read more about Alitalia or Book flights with Alitalia

• Alitalia cancels flights (13/10/08)
• Alitalia bought by Air France KLM (17/03/08)
• Rome to Los Angeles service with Alitalia (21/01/08)