Alitalia posted a 3.2-billion-euro loss in 1996-2006, including 380 million euros in 2006. Last fall, the Italian government decided to privatize the airline by selling at least 30.1% of its 49.9% stake.
The ministry said in an open letter to the bidders, including Russia's flagship carrier, Aeroflot, that they should submit final plans for the company's restructuring by July 2. Under the terms of the bidding, they must guarantee that Alitalia will retain an Italian identity for at least eight years.
In addition to a consortium of Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot [RTS: AFLT] and UniCredit bank, there are two other groups of bidding companies -- AP Holding in conjunction with Intesa Sanpaolo (controlled by Italy's AirOne owner Carlo Toto) and an international group comprised of U.S. asset management group MatlinPatterson, U.S. private-equity Texas Pacific Group Europe and Italian bank Mediobanca.
Alitalia canceled almost 400 flights Tuesday due to a strike by its flight attendants and air traffic controllers.
