Alitalia to get 700-800 million euros

MILAN (Reuters) - Alitalia AZPIa.MI will receive a capital injection of 700 million (554 million pounds) to 800 million euros from Italian businessmen as part of a plan to save the ailing carrier, newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Sunday.

The paper, without citing sources, said some 10 businessmen would take part in the rescue plan being drawn up by the government-appointed adviser, bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), but did not name them.

It said the plan included around 5,000-6,000 job cuts and aimed to make Alitalia a stronger player on the domestic market, with turnover of 4 billion euros ($6.28 billion).

A spokesman for Intesa Sanpaolo declined to comment.

Italian newspapers have cited at least 4,000 to 5,000 planned job cuts at Alitalia but Intesa Sanpaolo's Chief Executive Corrado Passera has said the figures were "premature."

The bank is due to draw up a rescue plan by early next month for the state-controlled airline that lost 495 million euros last year. Corriere said the plan should be ready around mid-August and that it was still unclear whether Intesa Sanpaolo would itself take a stake in the airline.

Financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore also reported the plan could be ready by mid-August and said the threshold level for investors would be between 50 million and 100 million euros, without citing sources. It said job cuts could be between 8,000 and 10,000.

Corriere said a change in an Italian law regarding financial failure would be needed for the plan to work.

Alitalia is being kept alive by a 300 million euro emergency loan from the Italian government. The loan is being investigated by the European Commission to determine whether it breaks rules on state aid.