Alitalia ; Meridiana

Alitalia and Meridiana Fly are in talks about a possible partnership, Meridiana said, although it did not confirm reports in Il Messaggero that the airlines’ respective management teams are reviewing the details of a possible acquisition.

The Italian newspaper reported on Saturday that AZ would be interested in buying Meridiana to prevent Lufthansa from stepping in.

“The company's future lies with national and international partnerships... and the talks with Alitalia referred to in the press today should be considered in that context,” Meridiana said in a statement released on its website.

“At this stage, no partnership agreement exists and no decision has been taken. As a consequence at this stage, any enterprise value hypothesis appears groundless.”

Meridiana Fly was formed last year through the consolidation of Meridiana and Eurofly [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]).

It operates a network of domestic, European and intercontinental routes using a fleet of 38 aircraft, comprising 17 MD-82s, 12 Airbus A320s, four A319s, three A330s and two ATR 42s, as of Sept. 30, 2010.

Last month, it stated it would undertake “a series of actions aimed at strengthening the competitive position of company through a more precise focus on the areas of most interest strategic” and reduce its MD-80 fleet and implement a restructuring of its cost structure and network.

It is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.

The carrier posted a net loss of €16.4 million ($22.2 million) in the first nine months of 2010 on revenue of €499.6 million.

Passenger boardings totaled 3.7 million.