Consortium withdraws Alitalia bid

A consortium of investors proposing to rescue airline Alitalia has withdrawn its takeover offer, raising fears the carrier may go into liquidation.

The Italian group, called CAI, dropped its bid after unions failed to back the deal before a 1400GMT deadline.

While four of Alitalia’s unions had supported the deal, five had objected because of plans to cut 3,000 jobs.

Italy’s flag-carrier has already warned that it is running out of funds to buy all the aviation fuel it needs.

…Italian Labour Minister Maurizio Sacconi said before the deadline that the future of Alitalia was “hanging by a thread”.