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Airline backed by European leaders

Italian airline Alitalia has been given the support of German and Italian political leaders in its fight to survive the current economic turmoil.

The move comes in response to an agreement made between the Italian firm and the German airline Lufthansa, which has agreed to purchase a minority holding.

Investment consortium CAI, which attempted to take over the beleaguered carrier in September, has stated it will shortly select a partner in its rescue plan, and with this latest development Lufthansa now looks the likely partner to succeed, fending off Air France-KLM.

Alitalia currently flies directly into a number of UK destinations, including its regional hub at Manchester Airport.

Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who has personally involved himself in attempting to broker a deal for the flagship airline, said: "We have said that we are open to international alliances and it would please us greatly if this alliance was with a country that we have worked with a lot, namely Germany."

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