Rome to take full control of Alitalia in June: Minister

The Italian govt will take full control of Alitalia in June, Industry minister Stefano Patuanelli said Thursday, adding the airline would have gone bust due to the coronavirus crisis otherwise. Alitalia has been run by state-appointed administrators since May 2017 and the difficulties caused by the pandemic came on top of deep-rooted financial problems for the business, scuppering an earlier plan to sell it to private investors. Patuanelli said Alitalia's revenue had shrunk by 87.5% so far this year. Speaking before a parliamentary committee for transport, the minister said the govt would create a new company at the beginning of June that would take 100% of the airline. "The new Alitalia will start with a fleet of more than 90 aircraft compared with its current 113 airplanes," Patuanelli said. <br/>