Etihad says will no longer invest in Italy’s Alitalia

Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Etihad Airways said on Tuesday that it was no longer willing to invest in Alitalia after the Italian carrier’s board asked to be put under special administration.

Without support for restructuring, “we are not prepared to continue to invest,” Etihad’s president James Hogan said in an emailed statement. “We therefore support the necessary decision of the Alitalia Board to apply for extraordinary administration.”

Etihad took a 49 per cent stake in Alitalia in 2014, promising to turn around the troubled airline with a 1.76 billion euro ($1.92bn) investment that included other shareholders.