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Italy’s government is set to again extend a deadline for the rescue of loss-making carrier Alitalia after failing to secure enough investors’ backing, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. The government is scrambling to arrange a rescue of the airline, which was placed under special administration in 2017, to avoid mass layoffs. It has lined up state railways Ferrovie dello Stato and US carrier Delta as potential investors in a bid that could be worth around E1b, but there is still a shortfall of around E400m. After several deadlines for Ferrovie to present its plan for Alitalia passed with no breakthrough, a new deadline had been set for June 15 but that too will have to be pushed back, the sources said. “Nothing is ready. The rescue is not ready,” one of the sources said. Another source, who is close to Industry Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, said the deadline could be pushed back by 15 days or one month. Alitalia is meanwhile burning cash and the three temporary administrators who have been appointed to run it have repeatedly said it could face liquidation unless a solution is found soon.<br/>

Kenya Airways plans to double its fleet over the next five years, its chairman said Monday, as the loss-making carrier combats regional rivals like Ethiopian. The Kenyan airline, which is 48.9% government-owned and 7.8% by Air France-KLM, restructured $2b of debt in 2017 and is opening new routes as it seeks to return to profit. It had a fleet of 41 airplanes at the end of last year, comprising a mix of wide and narrow body Boeing planes, compared with Ethiopian which operates more than 100 planes. Kenya Airways, which also operates Bombardier and Embraer planes on its short and medium haul flights, is restructuring its aircraft leasing agreements and its other debts to free up cash for investment in new planes, Chairman Michael Joseph told a shareholder meeting. “We intend to double the size of the fleet over the next five years if we can find the right financial structure to do this,” Joseph said. Efforts by the airline to boost its revenue by taking over the running of Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport were thwarted by a parliamentary committee last month. The cabinet had backed a plan last year to hand over management of the profitable airport, the largest in the country, to Kenya Airways to revitalise its balance sheet and allow it to buy new planes and open new routes. Kenya Airways wants to emulate rival carriers who operate airports, taking advantage of profitable services such as catering, fuel distribution, cargo and maintenance. The parliament’s transport committee has instead proposed that the government considers other ways of helping the carrier, including exempting it from paying taxes.<br/>