Ryanair is planning to bid for a takeover of Italy’s flagship carrier, Alitalia, after the latter filed for bankruptcy.
Ailing Alitalia has been in financial trouble for a number of years, and has recently been put under administration for the second time in less than a decade.
Ryanair will now bid to take over 90 of the Italian airline’s 120-strong aircraft fleet, their crews, support structure, and routes, including long-haul, but will stop short of bidding for the entire fleet to avoid facing issues with EU regulators and fall foul of anti-trust laws however, as a complete takeover would hand Ryanair control of over 50% of the Italian market.