The Alitalia story is starting to look like the Perils of Pauline…each episode closes with the heroine tied to the railroad tracks with a train approaching, and each new one begins with a dramatic, but temporary rescue.
Now the Italian government, faced with an Oct. 16 deadline for final bids to take over the bankrupt carrier and no satisfactory bids, has extended its bridge loan to keep it flying. The new extension, worth about €300 million, will extend the deadline to April 30th.
It appears that with Ryanair stepping out of the picture due to its internal scheduling and other issues, there is no firm bid for the entire operation, and that the Italian government is not willing to have it simply broken up for parts like Air Berlin. Whether a new bidder will actually emerge, or Ryanair re-enter the bidding, or existing bidders are willing to up the ante…all that remains unclear for now.
