Ryanair resists Alitalia invitation for investment in €300m restructuring

Ryanair has not offered to take part in Italian airline Alitalia’s poorly received €300m capital increase, the chief executive said yesterday.

After a lukewarm response to its emergency cash call, Alitalia has been left with the prospect of literally running out of fuel before next summer unless it can get top shareholder Air France-KLM or some other investor to invest and help revamp its fleet.

Speaking at a news conference in Rome, Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said if his airline were asked to join Alitalia’s cash call currently earmarked only for shareholders “we would evaluate” the possibility.