Board of Directors meeting

The Board of Directors of Alitalia met on June 10, and took note, among other items, of the formal mandate to Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. which was deliberated – also in compliance with legislative decree n. 97 of June 3, 2008 – during the previous meeting on June 3, taking into account the contractual understanding between the parties. Within this framework, the Intesa Sanpaolo working group has immediately begun to examine Alitalia’s main business areas and to consider the various alternatives that are available.

Also during today’s meeting, the Board examined the news items which have appeared in the press, following the release of traffic figures, for April, of the carriers who are members of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). In this regard, it emerges that:

1. the main reason for the decrease in passengers is related to the overall reduction of seats offered due to rationalising the network and moving from dual hubs to a single hub, starting with the IATA summer season 2008;

2. the decrease in passengers was more than proportional to the reduction of seats offered due, firstly, to delays in reorganising the distribution systems resulting from the problems arising from the release of Malpensa slots and, subsequently, to the sharp drop in bookings following the breakdown of negotiations with Air France (approx. -20% );

3. overall traffic performance did not depend on the transfer of flights from Malpensa to Fiumicino as shown by the fact that Alitalia traffic on Rome’s airport has increased by 24.9% and by 32.4% in April and May respectively;

4. the planned strong recovery of yield (unit revenue ) has taken place. For the coming months, the upward trend in bookings that the Company is experiencing in recent weeks should bring the gap between seats offered and the number of passengers carried to a normal level, leading to a reduction in traffic more in line with the reduced offer.

Source: Transportweekly