Ryanair wants to acquire 90 aircraft from the bankrupted Alitalia. The Irish low-cost carrier intends to use the existing crew and the machines to fly under the Italian company’s logo. Ryanair has deadline until October 2nd to place official bid.
“We will bid for 90 aircraft – along with their pilots, crew, routes, and so on”, said the CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary.
As Ryanair uses Boeing’s aircraft, the Alitalia team will have to support and provide maintenance to its 90 Airbus models. At the moment, the low-cost carrier flies only on short distances, but under its old brand the Italian company’s aircraft will also carry long flights.
Michael O’Leary said also that Ryanair is interested in the whole Alitalia, which has about 120 aircraft, but such a deal is likely to be blocked by regulators because it will give the Irish carrier more than 50% control of the Italian market.
“We’d be very willing to buy Alitalia. But I suspect … given we’re the number one airline in Italy we’d be blocked under EU competition rules”, said the CEO of Ryanair.
Ryanair is one of around 10 parties that has expressed an interest in a bid for all or part of the carrier.
