The head of Air One airline met with an executive of a leading bank and other business executives from northern Italy to get support for another attempt to bid for Alitalia.
Carlo Toto, the head of Air One, met with Gaetano Micciche, head of Intesa Sanpaolo's corporate division, and other business leaders from Lombardy region in the latest in a series of meetings about a new bid to rival the one made by Air France-KLM.
The last bid made by Air One for the struggling flagship airline was rejected late last year by the outgoing government in favour of the one by Air France-KLM.
Alitalia has since gone into exclusive talks with the French-Dutch carrier.
Air One is suing to stop the talks, and an administrative court is to make a decision on February 20.
Toto's desire to file a new bid has grabbed the attention of political and business leaders in northern Italy because they are concerned about the future of Malpensa, the international airport that serves their region.
Air France-KLM favours Alitalia's plans to drastically reduce flights at the airport as part of a restructuring of its money-losing operations.
Fewer flights at the airport would not only mean a loss of status for the region, but also a loss of business and jobs.
Although the local media have spoken of about 20 business leaders interested in helping Toto, only a few have spoken about it publicly, including banking giant Intesa Sanpaolo and food caterer My Chef.
The chairman of Pirelli, a holding company, has shown interest should a viable project materialise.
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