Alitalia stops flights to India and China

Mumbai: The very last Alitalia flight from Mumbai took off on Saturday morning. After that, at least for a few months, there will be no direct flights to Italy from here.
For some time now, Alitalia has been making huge losses and there have been reports that it might be bought out by the Air France-KLM group. But even as painful negotiations drag on, Alitalia has run out of cash to lease aircraft to destinations like India and China. The company has taken a decision to shut down operations to both countries from March 31, though official sources are calling it a “temporary” suspension; it has not given up its landing rights nor will it shut its India offices.
None of Alitalia employees at its three offices, two in Mumbai and one in Delhi have been laid-off. As far as restarting operations is concerned, Tomas Fumelli, Alitalia’s general manager in India says, “Air France-KLM-Alitalia will evaluate the re-opening of India operations once the merger is resolved.”
30/03/08 Anita Aikara/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2008