Germany’s Lufthansa is set to buy a 40% stake in state-owned Alitalia’s successor ITA Airways and a deal could be unveiled next week, Italian daily Il Foglio reported on Saturday.
ITA Airways started flying on Oct. 15 with nearly 2,300 employees and a fleet less than half the size of that operated by Alitalia, the 75-year old former national carrier which passed through a dizzying succession of restructurings and changes of ownership.
The newspaper did not give a price for any deal, but said the two companies were very close to agreeing over some key terms, such as the role of Rome’s Fiumicino airport as a hub for direct flights to Africa and some routes to the Americas.
