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Alitalia seeks partner
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April 3, 2001: 7:13 a.m. ET
Italian airline looks for alliance, warns won't make profit until end of 2001
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LONDON (CNN) - Alitalia, Italy's national airline, warned on Tuesday it can't compete globally until it finds an international partner.
The airline made the declaration as it posted a wider-than-expected net loss of 495 billion lire ($224.5 million) in 2000 and notified investors it did not expect to make a profit until the end of 2001.
Alitalia has been seeking an international partner after talks with Dutch airline KLM collapsed last year. Attempts to resurrect those talks and negotiations with Air France and Swissair have failed to bear fruit.
The Italian airline reeled off a string of excuses for poor 2000 results, blaming the collapse of talks with KLM, trouble with its Malpensa hub in northern Italy, high fuel costs and a weak euro.
"A net loss is to be expected in 2001, though smaller than in 2000," Alitalia said.
Alitalia, which is 53 percent owned by the Italian government, faces an uphill struggle to join an airline alliance as many rivals have already formed global alliances.
In February, Alitalia appointed Francesco Mengozzi as the airline's new chief executive after former CEO Domenico Cempella failed to pull the alliance card.
Meantime, the airline is hoping that the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, will reconsider its bid for extra cash in the form of government aid to refinance the business.
The Commission blocked an attempt to inject 2.75 trillion lire into the business in 1997.
--from staff and wire reports 
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