DUBAI // Alitalia passengers were urged yesterday to wait until the last minute before booking flights from the UAE with the seemingly doomed Italian national airline. The airline, which has been in severe financial difficulty for months, said on Saturday that it could guarantee it had enough fuel to last only through yesterday. Creditors refused to supply more.
The uncertainty was felt at Dubai International Airport, from which the airline flies to Rome every morning. Up to last night, it was still unclear whether today's 1.45am flight would depart. The airline's Dubai office advised callers yesterday to wait before booking the Monday [today] flight. "If you want to fly on Monday, I would wait until later in the day to see what the situation is," a spokesman said.
"If the flight gets to Dubai from Rome, it has to get back somehow. There are so many things going on, so many rumours." An Alitalia flight from Rome's Fiumicino airport to Dubai was scheduled to arrive as usual at 9.55pm yesterday. Alitalia's bankruptcy commissioner, Augusto Fantozzi, said on Saturday: "There are difficulties relating to the supply of fuel, which could put some flights at risk." Earlier, he said that flights were guaranteed through yesterday, but "not from Monday. They're not supplying us with fuel".
The problems come two weeks after the company, which is the world's 19th-largest by fleet, was declared bankrupt. As it emerged that Alitalia was losing almost £1 million (Dh6.6m) a day, a rescue package was put forward by Italian consortium CAI to buy its remaining profitable assets. However, talks collapsed on Friday. Unions also refused to accept the deal being negotiated, as they feared it might result in widespread job losses.
Paolo Dionisi, the Italian ambassador to the UAE, urged Italian nationals who may have concerns over flights they had booked to call Alitalia directly at Dubai Airport on 04 224 2256. * Additional reporting: Reuters
