Italy's outgoing government is pressing ahead with plans to sell a majority stake in ITA Airways and hopes to choose its preferred bidder by the end of the month, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The government had aimed to complete the part-privatisation of the successor to Alitalia over the summer, but asked the two rival consortia to review their initial offers as it deemed they did not meet its goals. They have until midnight (2200 GMT) on Monday to do so. Shipping group MSC and Germany's Lufthansa are facing a rival bid led by US private equity fund Certares and which is backed by Air France-KLM and Delta. Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government wants to sign a preliminary agreement with the preferred bidder by Sept. 10, the sources said. However, any deal would probably close in the final quarter of the year by which time Italy should have a new government after a national election on Sept. 25, potentially complicating the issue further. MSC and Lufthansa are offering between E850m and E900m for an 80% stake, one of the sources told Reuters. MSC would buy a 60% stake while the German airline would have a 20% stake. The Italian Treasury wants to retain an important influence on ITA's strategy and jobs, the same source added. MSC was not immediately available for comment, while Lufthansa declined to comment on the matter. In the case of Certares, the fund is offering around 600 million euros for about 60% of ITA. According to a fourth source, its proposal would leave the Italian Treasury with "at least" a 40% stake and the right to appoint the company's chairman and exercise a veto on certain "strategic choices."<br/>
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Air New Zealand staff shortages meant passengers on domestic flights out of Auckland Airport on Monday morning faced an extraordinarily long wait to drop off their bags. The airline said high levels of staff sickness meant there were fewer employees than normal to receive bags during the peak morning travel period, but the queues have since cleared. Earlier, a passenger shared a video showing a queue snaking well beyond the Air New Zealand check in and bag drop area. The passenger, who was on a flight to Wellington at 9am, said when they arrived at the airport at 8am, the line was “massive” and “not moving”. Fellow passengers in the queue were “looking around looking very worried”, as the bag drop is closed off 30 minutes before a flight’s departure. The passenger said around 8.20am, a staff member asked everyone who was on the Wellington flight to join another line, so they were able to make the bag drop deadline. Air New Zealand general manager airports Tessa Auelua said: “Unfortunately due to ongoing high levels of sickness, Air New Zealand had fewer employees than normal to scan and remove bags on the other side of bag drop during the peak travel period this morning at Auckland Domestic Airport. “Despite all bag drop kiosks being open, customers had a longer than usual wait to drop their bags. The team worked to prioritise bags in order of flight departure times to ensure customers could reach their flights. “We would like to thank customers for their patience.”<br/>