New Alitalia will fly with half the number of workers and planes - paper

MILAN (Reuters) - A revamped Alitalia will operate with less than half the number of planes and employees it had before its latest rescue when the Italian airline starts flying again in April, daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Thursday.

Under its new, five-year business plan, the state-owned company, which will be renamed ITA (Italia Trasporto Aereo), will have 5,000 employees compared with 11,000 before the crisis, the newspaper said, without identifying its sources.

It will fly about 50 planes, down from 104, it added.

Alitalia could not immediately be reached for a comment.

"The long-haul planes will be reduced from 26 to six, with a huge fall in the capacity of intercontinental flights, about 70%," the paper said.

A source close to the matter said ITA's board was likely to meet on Friday to approve the plan before sending it to Italy's parliament and the European Commission on Monday for review.

After 11 years of turbulent private management and three failed restructuring attempts, the coronavirus crisis scuppered the government's plan to sell the airline.

Earlier this year, Rome decided to set aside 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) and create a new company that would buy the good assets of the old carrier and launch a new strategy with state support.

($1 = 0.8179 euros)

(Reporting by Maria Pia Quaglia. Additional reporting by Francesca Landini. Editing by Giulia Segreti and Mark Potter)