Alitalia shares were up 2.71% at the start of trading Thursday morning.(Ansa/Xinhua Photo)
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    ROME, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Italy's Alitalia appointed Maurizio Prato Wednesday as the airline's new chairman with a mandate to find a buyer for the troubled carrier, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

    Prato, who has left his job as Fintecna chairman and CEO, will have greater executive powers than his predecessor Berardino Libonati, who resigned a day earlier and was responsible for organizing the failed auction for the carrier in his seven months in Alitalia, the report said.

    During a meeting of the board of directors, Alitalia decided to move an examination of a new business plan for the transition period leading to Alitalia's sale to the end of the month.

    The new Alitalia chairman, the fourth in three years, has had along career in the state sector, holding a broad range of positions in the former public conglomerate IRI, and he used to bea member of the Alitalia board of directors.

    His arrival at the Alitalia helm received a favorable response from the airline's unions.

    Prato was chosen by the Italian Treasury, which holds a 49.9-percent share of the national carrier, after the government decided to sell the airline through direct negotiations, as opposed to a new auction under revised conditions.

    The government was forced to call off the auction on July 18 after all the bidders dropped out, with many citing restrictive conditions and shifting guidelines. The bidders included Air One, Matlin Patterson equity group and Aeroflot Russian Airlines, among others.

    Alitalia has not posted an operating profit since 1998 and its net debt currently stands at more than 1 billion euros (about 1.37 billion U.S. dollars).

    In May, Alitalia announced a full-year net loss of 625.6 million euros (about 857 million dollars), 458 million (about 627 million dollars) more than previously indicated.

Italy may sell full stake in national carrier Alitalia

    ROME, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Italian Treasury said Tuesday that it may sell its full 49.9 percent stake in national carrier Alitalia under the right conditions.

    Until now the Treasury had said it would retain no more than 10percent of the airline, according to the local media reports. 

Italian gov't wants at least 5% stake in Alitalia

    ROME, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government should maintain a "significant" stake in the country's national airline Alitalia even after its privatization, said Italian Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi, local media reported on Tuesday.

    The minister made the suggestion after the close of an initial tender for Alitalia's 30.1-percent stake.

Italian businessman confirms offer for Alitalia

    ROME, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Italian Milanese businessman Paolo Alazraki confirmed Thursday that he is leading a group of investors which could make an offer to buy troubled airline Alitalia, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

    Alazraki, an expert in international financial markets, said there were currently 16 investors interested in the possibility of taking the controlling stake in Alitalia that the Italian Treasury wants to sell.