ROME, June 28: Italy’s failing airline Alitalia faces the “last chance” to find a rescue strategy, its chairman told shareholders on Saturday, in comments reported by the ANSA news agency.

“This is our last chance and we can’t risk missing it,” the national flag carrier’s president Aristide Police told shareholders at the start of their general meeting.

“In a few days, we will know if the advising bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, is in a position to present an appropriate recovery and development strategy,” he was quoted as saying.

Intesa Sanpaolo was tasked with advising the airline on its privatisation.

The leading economic daily Il Sole-24 Ore reported that the bank has a plan to split the airline in two, creating a new entity for the company’s non-profit-making activities which would be open to new investment.

Police said Wednesday that Alitalia must undergo a recapitalisation with new money and then seek a foreign partner.

—AFP