Tourism is to Italy what oil is to Saudi Arabia, and thus it would be a natural goal to sell off the partly state-owned airline Alitalia to foreign owners.

This is what Italy's Deputy Prime Minister, Lega party leader Matteo Salvini, says to the Italian radio channel RTL.

”Foreign owners would of course do what is in their own interests. /…/ It is important that we have an airline that is focused on Italy and that can reopen routes that have been closed,” says Matteo Salvini.

Among those interested in buying the airline, Delta and Easyjet have confirmed that the companies plan to make a bid for the troubled Italian airline group along with the train company Ferrovie Dello Stato.

One of the problems along the way has been that the Italian state, which is the main owner of Alitalia, must accept a deal. The chances were considered to increase with Ferrovie Dello Stato in the bid, according to the Financial Times.

Among previous interested parties, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and Etihad have been mentioned as possible bidders.

Alitalia has been placed under reconstruction after a long period of weak results, which was caused primarily by the tough competitive situation from low-cost players such as Easyjet.

Easyjet's shares rose by around 4 percent in London on Wednesday morning.

Source: Nyhetsbyrån Direkt