Interactive:
Do you sleep well in-flight? Have your say.
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
ROME, Italy (Reuters) --The French government would welcome Alitalia in a merger with Air France and KLM and is confident the Italian airline can reverse its fortunes, says the French transport secretary.
"The Air France-KLM alliance has a door wide open to Alitalia and the day that they will want to come through that door we will be delighted to welcome them," Transport Secretary Dominique Bussereau told Reuters in Rome on Friday after meeting his Italian counterparts.
The French state's stake in the Air France-KLM merger is set to be 44 percent.
State-controlled Alitalia is eager to join the announced merger of the two European airlines but is on tenterhooks for the government to launch privatization.
Italy's Treasury director said this week that the issue will be discussed in coming weeks, dampening hopes that the long-awaited sale was imminent.
The Dutch carrier has said privatization is essential for Alitalia to step into the deal and on Friday Bussereau said it is a step the French government expects as well.
"Certainly privatization is part of the deal and I'm sure the Italian government understands that and will do what it has to do," he said.
But unlike KLM Chief Financial Officer Rob Ruijter, who said last week that it would take years before Alitalia was ready to join the merger, Bussereau was upbeat about Alitalia's future.
"We think Alitalia is a good company and has a lot of potential," he said.
"Ten years ago people were saying Air France was about to go bust and now it's profitable and it's about to merge with KLM and become one of the biggest airlines in the world."
Alitalia said it would cut 2,700 jobs as part of a three-year rescue plan to drag it out of the red and make it fit for the merger.
Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
