Lufthansa Group would develop Rome Fiumicino into its fifth major European hub should it be successful in its bid to acquire parts of Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino). The group currently operates hubs at Frankfurt International and Munich (for Lufthansa), Zurich (for Swiss), and Vienna (for Austrian Airlines).
Speaking during the presentation of the Group's 3Q17 financial results, the German carrier's chief executive Carsten Spohr also told journalists that low-cost carrier Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf) may also assume Alitalia's Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa operations in such a scenario.
The Financial Times has meanwhile reported that Cerberus Capital Management has also approached Alitalia with a proposal to keep it operational but as an independent stand-alone carrier.
According to the report, Cerberus would be willing to invest between EUR100 and 400 million (USD116-464million) in Alitalia as part of a plan in which the Italian government would retain a stake in the airline alongside unions. Both would also participate in a profit-sharing scheme. The US private equity fund has previous experience in restructuring largescale operators having tended to Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) in the 2000s.
Despite this proposal, Cerberus has not entered a binding offer for Alitalia's assets. Thus far, only Lufthansa and easyJet (London Luton) have openly confirmed submitting offers.
