In a significant move to rescue the Alitalia, arrangements have been made to inject about EUR1 billion euros from private investors. Il Giornale has reported this on Wednesday without citing any sources.

Notably, the paper is owned by the brother of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The paper has said that the investors are actively taking part in the rescue plan designed for the airline. Intesa Sanpaolo, is the government-appointed adviser for drafting this plan.

Il Giornale noted that the highlight of the plan is to seek to raise Alitalia's 40 percent share of the domestic market, by way of taking in 22 percent share of Air One, a smaller domestic rival.

According to the newspaper, Air One's head, Carlo Toto, could get about 30 percent stakes in the combined group as a result thereby becoming the chairman or vice-chairman. Otherwise, he may even choose to sell the airline to the new company to reinvest in it part of the proceeds. Il Giornale said the value of this could be around EUR400 million.

In a separate report, Il Sole 24 Ore has stated that Lufthansa appears to be a preferred partner for a new salvaged Alitalia when compared to a former suitor Air France-KLM. The reasons are not far to seek. Actually Air France KLM aims to focus mainly on a Milan airport, which Alitalia did not want to regard as one of the hubs for Rome during the drafting of its restructuring plan.