Italy's government extends deadline for ailing Alitalia to submit bid till June 15

Italy's deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio extended a deadline to submit bids for the ailing carrier Alitalia to June 15, a government statement said on Friday. The decision followed a request from Italy's state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato, which is one of the companies who have said are willing to contribute to the rescue plan.

The current deadline had expired at the end of April. The government is arranging a rescue of the ailing company to avoid mass layoffs and has lined up Ferrovie dello Stato and U.S. carrier Delta as potential investors. But it still needs another investor to contribute to a bid that is estimated to be worth around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).

Flagship carrier Alitalia has been run by administrators since 2017 after workers rejected a previous rescue plan.