Many private investors are interested in Alitalia and will take part in a relaunch of the airline which will be spearheaded by the state-controlled rail company, Deputy PM Luigi Di Maio said Tuesday. Alitalia was put under special administration last year and Rome has since been looking for a buyer. The sale was supposed to be concluded by April, but the deadline was moved to the end of October. Earlier this month the Italian railway group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) presented a non-binding expression of interest for Alitalia. “The partnership with FS is the starting point. Other investors will join because we have had some very important contacts,” said Di Maio.<br/>
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Kenya Airway employees threatened to go on strike unless a pay deal is agreed by Oct. 28 -- the day the carrier is set to begin direct flights to the US. The Kenya Aviation Workers Union said its officials and airline management held a meeting on Oct. 16 to discuss a counter proposal by the carrier that offered no salary increment, according to an emailed statement Tuesday. “Management is proposing a pay cut, in total disregard to immense sacrifices that our members made in the recent past when the airline was in extreme distress,” the Nairobi-based union said. Kenya Airways asked the union to withdraw its strike notice by mid-morning Tuesday and said negotiations on a new collective-bargaining agreement would resume after the “successful” launch of its New York flight. “This action is incomprehensible to management who will employ all legal and disciplinary means available to it in order to safeguard our national airline,” the company said of the planned work stoppage. The US is Kenya’s biggest tourism market and the airline estimates the New York route will boost revenue by 10% in 2019. Kenya Airways expects a load factor of 75 to 80% in first year of flights to the American city and 95% in the following year.<br/>
China Southern plans to open four medium- and long-haul services from its Guangzhou base in the three months beginning December, including daily flights to Madrid. China Southern’s Madrid operation is intended to start in March, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said. Airbus A330-200s, A330-300s or Boeing 777-300ERs will be used, China Southern told CAAC. A planned daily service to Tel Aviv, Israel—slated to begin in February—would also use A330s in either version but the alternative would be 787s, CAAC said. The two other proposed routes will be flown 3X-weekly each. One will connect to Islamabad, Pakistan by Kunming in southwestern China, beginning in December. The other destination is Vienna, Austria via Urumqi in northwestern China, beginning in March.<br/>