Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) has offered to lease up to eight widebody jets from Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) the Malaysian carrier's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Bellew has said.
Speaking to Reuters this week, Bellew said Malaysia Airlines wants to lease as many as eight A330-200s or B777-200(ER)s for use from 2018 and possibly a further nine from 2019. As it stands, Malaysia Airlines expects to finalize most of those leases in the next four to six weeks, he said.
The ch-aviation aircraft database shows the ailing Italian carrier's fleet of fourteen A330-200s are leased from a variety of firms including Castlelake, Apollo Aviation Group, Intrepid Aviation, Air Lease Corporation, MD Aviation Capital, A.P.C. Aircraft Purchase Company, Aergo Capital, and fellow Etihad Airways equity partner, Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International). It is a similar story with its fleet of eleven B777s where the aircraft are sourced from GECAS, AerCap, and A.P.C. Aircraft Purchase Company.
The announcement comes as Alitalia faces an increasingly uncertain future given its workforce's decision to reject a restructuring plan needed to unlock EUR2 billion worth of fresh capital. As previously reported, following Monday's historic vote, Alitalia is now destined to enter into special administration wherein a decision on its fate will be decided in the coming months by an appointed Commissioner.
Italy's civil aviation authority (Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile - ENAC) officially confirmed on Wednesday, April 26, that the President of Alitalia, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, has informed ENAC President, Vito Riggio, that the airline's Board has decided to start the procedure for the appointment of a Commissioner.
ENAC also noted that at present, Alitalia still meets all the conditions necessary to continue commercial operations.
