news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Imagine flying round trip between New York City and Rome for less money than you’d pay to take a shuttle flight round trip between New York and Boston. Imagine flying your family of four — or any group of four — on a springtime trip to the Eternal City for a total airfare cost of less than $1,200 for the entire group.

This spring, you’ll be able to make that round trip from New York for $299 per person from April 21-May 8 aboard an Italian airline called Eurofly. This promotional airfare might be the lowest per mile in aviation history.

Eurofly has been operating throughout the world for more than 15 years, but it did so in the past as a charter airline for Alitalia. Last year, it began flying the Atlantic for the first time as an independent carrier under its own name, from New York to Italy’s Rome, Bologna, Naples and Palermo, Sicily. The $299 round-trip fare, which will be guaranteed to at least 1,000 passengers, is obviously an attempt by the Italian company to make a big splash, impressing its name on the minds of American travelers.

source: SFGate.com

Deutsche Lufthansa AG has dismissed as ”pure speculation” a report in the La Stampa daily it is considering bidding for a stake in ailing Italian carrier Alitalia SpA.”This is pure speculation,” a Lufthansa spokesman said.

The Italian government has invited interested parties to present bids for a stake of between 30.1 pct and 49.9 pct in Alitalia by Jan 29.

In early December, Lufthansa’s head of marketing and sales, Thierry Antinori, said his company was not interested in taking a stake in Alitalia because the German airline already has a presence in the Italian market.

source: Forbes

Potential buyers for Alitalia must guarantee the airline’s 18,000 jobs, national routes and the Italian identity of the Alitalia brand, the Economy Ministry said Friday.

The ministry, in a document published on its Web site, said expressions of interest for its stake in the struggling flag carrier must be presented by Jan. 29. Buyers must have minimum capital of 100 million euros ($131.73 million).

The government is seeking an investor or group of investors to buy at least a 30.1 percent stake in the airline as it sells down its 49.9 percent share.

source: Courier Post online

After weeks of speculation the Italian Government yesterday began the privatisation of Alitalia, the troubled national airline, by announcing the sale of 30.1 per cent of its 49.9 per cent stake.

It attached conditions, however, including an insistence that whoever buys the stake must make a full takeover bid for the whole airline, undertake to keep its logo and national identity and come up with a convincing business “turnaround” plan to salvage the debt-ridden company.

source: Times Online

Air France-KLM Chief Executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta said Thursday the airline recently began talks with Alitalia SpA that may lead to the opening of merger discussions.

Spinetta said merger talks will go ahead on three conditions: a confirmation of Alitalia’s financial turnaround, the assurance that both companies share a strategic vision and the determination of potential synergies from a merger.

source: MSN

Italian Premier Romano Prodi said Tuesday that the situation at state-controlled Alitalia SpA was “out of control” and promised a new plan by January to save the cash-strapped airline from bankruptcy.

Prodi and key ministers were meeting with union leaders to discuss the airline’s future amid widening financial losses and a series of wildcat strikes that have forced Alitalia to cancel scores of flights in recent weeks.

source: Herald Tribune

Alitalia SpA chief executive Giancarlo Cimoli said the troubled state-controlled airline cannot survive with its current cost structure and existing industry rules, the daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported citing a company document sent to parliament.

According to the document, Alitalia cannot generate a return on invested capital and the more it operates flights the more money it loses.

The document criticised airport and regulatory inefficiencies, as well as ‘unfair competitive advantages’ enjoyed by low-cost airlines.

source: Forbes

Alitalia SpA trade unions have called for a 24-hour strike on Oct 9 in addition to one already set for Sept 29, as talks with management on restructuring falter, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

In talks Friday, the unions opposed plans for the airline to sell its information technology and administrative activities. Unions and management are due to meet again on Monday, while unions are also asking for intervention of prime minister Romano Prodi.

source: Forbes