Alitalia may run out of fuel by summer

[MILAN] After a poor response to its emergency rights issue, Alitalia has been left with the prospect of literally running out of fuel before the peak season next summer unless it can get top shareholder Air France-KLM or some other investor to pour in billions of euros and revamp its fleet, analysts say.

The long-ailing national airline has so far raised less than two-thirds of the 300 million euros (S$511.8 million) wanted from the share sale and will rely on Italy's state-owned postal service and other investors to come up with the rest.

Air France-KLM was one of several shareholders to snub the rights offer and let their stakes be diluted, saying that it needed to see a much more radical restructuring of Alitalia's debt before it could help.