Alitalia, once the pride of Italy, fell victim to Silvio Berlusconi’s economic nationalism. But the privatization of the airline did not go well. Now Lufthansa is taking over the successor company Ita Airways
National symbols such as the airline Alitalia, which flew the popes around the world, have always been a great way to campaign in Italy. “Fraud,” shouted Silvio Berlusconi in 2008 when Romano Prodi’s government wanted to privatize the ailing state-run airline and Air France-KLM was being considered as a buyer. Berlusconi railed against a sell-out to foreigners – and not just in the case of Alitalia.
Source: Stern
