Alitalia needs recapitalisation, foreign partner: chairman

ROME (AFP) — Italy's failing Alitalia airline must undergo a recapitalisation with new money and then seek a foreign partner, the national flag carrier's chairman Aristide Police said Wednesday.

Intesa Sanpaolo, the banking giant tasked with advising the airline on its privatisation project, "is working intensively to develop a sustainable business plan," Police told the ANSA news agency.

"It's a plan that calls for fresh capital, a re-launching through recapitalisation," he said. "There will then be a search for further reinforcement by existing international partners or a search for new ones."

Police, who took over as Alitalia chairman in April after takeover talks with Air France-KLM broke down, also said the company should have a clear idea of its prospects by the end of July.

Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti, addressing the parliamentary budget and transport committees later Wednesday, said: "There's no time left for temporary ...