Aeromexico said on Friday a New York court had given definitive approval to its request for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing of up to $1b as the Mexican airline works through bankruptcy proceedings. The court had initially backed the financing in August and the definitive seal of approval gives the company access to an undrawn part of the first tranche of financing as well as the initial sum from the second tranche, Aeromexico said.<br/>
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Aeroflot said on Friday the state would take up 50 billion roubles worth of its 80-billion rouble ($1 billion) new share offering, a vital cash injection for Russia's flagship airline that is reeling from the pandemic. Russia grounded flights abroad in April and has only resumed some routes, cutting revenue streams in half for Russia’s airlines that are also grappling with a plunge in the rouble. Some airlines will need state support to survive, analysts say. Aeroflot is holding a secondary public offering in Moscow to be completed around Oct. 26 and has raised 39.1b roubles during bookbuilding, including 9.1b roubles from the Russian state, the airline said. The Russian government, which already holds a 51.17% stake in Aeroflot, will also exercise pre-emptive rights to buy a further 40.9 billion roubles in shares, Aeroflot said. Market investors will buy shares worth 30 billion roubles, it added.<br/>
Italy’s government has signed an air transport decree to establish a new national airline to succeed Alitalia. The government is referring the operator as Newco, but transport minister Paola De Micheli signals that the company’s formal name is ITA, adding that the company will “bring Italy to the world”. She says the decree has been signed with finance minister Roberto Gualtieri, economic development minister Stefano Patuanelli and labour minister Nunzia Catalfo. “A national airline is born that will have to play a leading role on the European and international market,” she says. It will represent a “clear discontinuity” with the past, and serve to “relaunch” Italian tourism. Creation of the national carrier follows months of wrangling after plans for an investor consortium to take over Alitalia fell through and the government stepped in to set up a new airline. “Newco represents the first step towards establishing a quality carrier capable of competing on the international market,” says Gualtieri. He says the management team will develop and implement a “solid and sustainable” plan. Patuanelli says the air transport crisis has provided an opportunity to think carefully about the relaunch, while Catalfo says: “We need a national airline to help Italy get back on track.”<br/>