Print Preview : Recovery and relaunch Air France-KLM's plan for Alitalia

Recovery and relaunch Air France-KLM's plan for Alitalia
Air France-KLM confirmed its determination to support Alitalia in its recovery and to relaunch it as a strong national flag carrier with world coverage. The enlarged Group will then be able to rely on three strong, complementary brands providing customers with an unparalleled network as the Group stated.

Air France-KLM also confirmed that the Group has made a non binding offer:

to acquire 100% of the shares of Alitalia through an exchange offer

to acquire 100% of Alitalia convertible bonds and

to immediately inject at least 750 million euros into Alitalia through a capital increase, that will be open to all shareholders and be fully underwritten by Air France-KLM.

A large part of this investment will be used to support a huge relaunch program with cabin reconfiguration at the top of in flight products (seats, interior design, entertainment,…) and ground services to restore Alitalia’s international image as a major airline and to convey the Italian flag and values all over the world.

According to the Group, Air France-KLM will support Alitalia in restoring and recovering its natural position and market share.

In addition, Alitalia's fleet renewal is Air France-KLM's top priority and the Group has assessed that it will proceed with the full renewal of the MD80 short/medium-haul fleet and the B767 long-haul fleet. After the recovery phase, further investments will ensure the growth of the fleet, and enable Alitalia to expand its network from a healthy position.

Air France-KLM's Recovery and Relaunch Plan will not add any more redundancies to Alitalia's current plan as the carrier ensured.

Vicky Karantzavelou - Wednesday, December 19, 2007