Alitalia trade union representatives on Tuesday urged Italy’s government to abandon negotiations with Brussels over the airline’s revamp, saying the EC is favouring foreign carriers over the group. Rome has been in negotiations with the European Union’s executive arm for months over Italy’s plan to restructure the airline through the launch of a new, state-owned company called ITA. Speaking before the Italian parliament, the head of the UILT trade union Claudio Tarlazzi rejected the idea that the new company could accept any of the EU’s proposals for the restructuring. “We must realise that the EU is favouring rival companies, and negotiations (with Brussels) must be stopped and the company created with all the necessary assets,” Tarlazzi told the members of two parliamentary committees holding a joint hearing.<br/>
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Air France-KLM on Tuesday launched a capital hike at E4.84 per share as part of a E4b recapitalisation to shore up its finances amid the COVID-19 crisis. The airline said it could raise up to E1.036b if demand was sufficient to exercise an option to increase the size of the rights issue. It added that the subscription pricing amounted to an 8.85% discount to Monday’s closing price.<br/>
Romanian carrier Tarom has put 14 aircraft up for sale, including all of its Airbus A318s, Boeing 737-300s and 737-700s. In a notice on its website, Tarom says it plans to sell four A318s, four 737-300s and four 737-700s, as well as two ATR 42-500s. The airline is seeking offers for the aircraft, which are being sold in an “as-is, where-is technical condition”. Cirium fleets data shows that Tarom has four A318s in service. It has one 737-300 in service and three in storage, as well as three 737-700s in service plus one in storage. The airline owns a total of seven ATR 42-500 turboprops, all of which are listed as being in storage. Its fleet also includes four in-service Boeing 737-800s and four ATR 72-600s, as well as two ATR 72-500s which are listed as being in storage. Tarom has another five ATR 72-600s on order along with five Boeing 737 Max 8s. Tarom says the aircraft it is selling are available for inspection at its maintenance facility in Romania.<br/>