The government must move quickly to nationalise Kenya Airways as regional competitors seeking to carve out market share pour cash into their national carriers, the airline’s CE said. Lawmakers voted in July to re-nationalize the loss-making airline, which is 48.9% state-owned, 7.8% held by Air France-KLM , and 38% owned by local lenders, hoping to emulate the success of state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest airline. Kenya Airways was privatised more than 20 years ago but sank into debt and losses in 2014 after a failed expansion drive and a slump in travelers after a major terror attack. In August, it saw its H1 pretax loss more than double from a year earlier to 8.56b Kenyan shillings ($83m). CE Sebastian Mikosz said the government will likely appoint a nationalization advisor by the end of the year and the process should be completed next year. “It’s so important...to have the nationalization done speedily, to have an answer about what the future of the airline is in terms of its structure in the next five years,” he said. Countries like Tanzania and Rwanda are investing heavily in their national carriers, threatening Kenya Airways’ market share.<br/>
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Efforts to save loss-making Alitalia have reached an impasse after months of unsuccessful negotiations with potential buyers, leaving Italy's government undecided on the next move. The struggling carrier, which has been under special administration since 2017 and continues to burn through cash, is now at a standstill after a consortium of potential buyers failed to make an offer, and with little hope for one in sight. "It's evident that right now a business solution doesn't exist," Economy Minister Stefano Patuanelli said this week, addressing a Senate commission. The company "has a dimension that the market has difficulty accepting," he said. The government has reportedly said it will provide a E400m bridge loan to the struggling company -- at the risk of running afoul of EC rules on state aid, after the 900m provided already in 2017. Patuanelli brushed off such concerns Friday, saying he was "not worried". The government, he said, was exploring its options, which media reports said include replacing the commissioners running the airline, or outright nationalisation. The minister has said placing the beleaguered carrier in the state's hands "would not necessarily be negative". After months of negotiations and the expiration of the latest deadline for a binding bid, plans for a consortium of investors to save the airline fell through last week after Atlantia said the conditions had not yet been met to participate.<br/>