Saturday March 29, 08:33 PM
Berlusconi denounces Air France bid for Alitalia: report
ROME (AFP) - Air France (Paris: FR0000031122 - news) -KLM's proposed takover of Alitalia (Milan: AZA.MI - news) is part of a plot by the group to deprive Italy of Chinese tourists, said opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, ANSA news agency reported.
"With an international platform that won't be based in Milan (northern Italy) but managed by Air France, where do you think the French company will transport the growing number of Chinese tourists, if not to Paris," said Berlusconi.
"The Air France proposal is unacceptable and even offensive," he added.
The former prime minister was speaking ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for April 13 and 14.
The latest opinion poll, issued Friday, put Berlusconi's People's Party for Freedoms ahead of left-wing rival Walter Veltroni's Democratic Party.
Berlusconi has said he would reject the Air France-KLM plan and has said he could bring together enough Italian investors to save the Italian airline, though many Italian industrialists and bankers have denied this.
Air France management is set to hold another meeting Monday in Rome with trade union officials with the airline, who so far have also rejected the plan because of the 2,100 job losses it would entail.
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