Italian shipping magnate Aponte attempts daring move into aviation
The Italian billionaire who turned a one-boat cargo operation into the world’s biggest shipping company thinks he can save an airline operation that’s landed a profit just once in 75 years of flying. Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co. is teaming up with Lufthansa to bid for ITA, the successor to Alitalia, a one-time symbol of Italian glamour that’s cost the Italian state billions of euros in unrecovered bailouts and failed takeover attempts. Armed with MSC profits earned amid sky-high shipping rates, MSC founder Aponte, 81, is betting his firm can turn a profit in an Italian aviation market that’s a key battleground for low-cost carriers like Ryanai and Wizz Air. “It’s a curious one,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, a shipping data and analytics company. “You’d expect them to make acquisitions in the field of air cargo, not air passengers.” MSC recently became the world’s largest container line after the coronavirus pandemic unleashed port disruption and unprecedented demand for consumer goods, pushing cargo rates to record highs. The Geneva-based company started out with one ship in 1970 and steadily bought vessels during the crisis, bringing its fleet to 638 boats, the largest in the world. By using the below-deck capacity of ITA passenger jets, MSC would also gain access to a higher-speed mode of transport and profit from long-haul routes from Europe to the US and Asia, said Alfredo Altavilla, executive chairman of the state-owned Italian carrier. “MSC could materially boost its business, making its cargo shipping interoperable worldwide through an owned airline like ITA,” Altavilla said. Acquiring ITA would also benefit MSC’s cruise-line business, enabling it to move its passengers to terminals, he said. Lufthansa, Europe’s largest airline by fleet size, would be MSC’s industrial partner in the proposed deal, but with a minority stake at most. The German airline flirted with Alitalia for years, but refused to invest until the loss-making company was restructured and bloated labor costs reduced.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-01-26/star/italian-shipping-magnate-aponte-attempts-daring-move-into-aviation
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Italian shipping magnate Aponte attempts daring move into aviation
The Italian billionaire who turned a one-boat cargo operation into the world’s biggest shipping company thinks he can save an airline operation that’s landed a profit just once in 75 years of flying. Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co. is teaming up with Lufthansa to bid for ITA, the successor to Alitalia, a one-time symbol of Italian glamour that’s cost the Italian state billions of euros in unrecovered bailouts and failed takeover attempts. Armed with MSC profits earned amid sky-high shipping rates, MSC founder Aponte, 81, is betting his firm can turn a profit in an Italian aviation market that’s a key battleground for low-cost carriers like Ryanai and Wizz Air. “It’s a curious one,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, a shipping data and analytics company. “You’d expect them to make acquisitions in the field of air cargo, not air passengers.” MSC recently became the world’s largest container line after the coronavirus pandemic unleashed port disruption and unprecedented demand for consumer goods, pushing cargo rates to record highs. The Geneva-based company started out with one ship in 1970 and steadily bought vessels during the crisis, bringing its fleet to 638 boats, the largest in the world. By using the below-deck capacity of ITA passenger jets, MSC would also gain access to a higher-speed mode of transport and profit from long-haul routes from Europe to the US and Asia, said Alfredo Altavilla, executive chairman of the state-owned Italian carrier. “MSC could materially boost its business, making its cargo shipping interoperable worldwide through an owned airline like ITA,” Altavilla said. Acquiring ITA would also benefit MSC’s cruise-line business, enabling it to move its passengers to terminals, he said. Lufthansa, Europe’s largest airline by fleet size, would be MSC’s industrial partner in the proposed deal, but with a minority stake at most. The German airline flirted with Alitalia for years, but refused to invest until the loss-making company was restructured and bloated labor costs reduced.<br/>
