The Italian government, which holds a 49.9 percent stake in the carrier, last week approved Alitalia <AZPIa.MI> pursuing talks with Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA>.
ROME (Reuters) - Alitalia has been exploited by politicians for too long and could not continue in its present state, Italy's economy minister told a newspaper, defending the decision to pave the way for a deal with Air France-KLM.
The Italian government, which holds a 49.9 percent stake in the carrier, last week approved Alitalia <AZPIa.MI> pursuing talks with Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA>.
The decision sparked an outcry from unions and politicians who want the airline to remain in Italian hands. Italy's three biggest unions preferred a rival bid by Air One, a privately owned Italian airline.
"For too long, politicians have exploited the situation at Alitalia for their own gain," Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, whose ministry oversees privatizations of state firms, told Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "It could not continue anymore."
!ADVERTISEMENT!Alitalia loses more than one million euros ($1.47 million) a day, is frequently hit by strikes, and has been saved from bankruptcy in the past by state bailouts.
Protests from officials in Italy's north -- who fear job losses and a smaller role for Alitalia's Milan Malpensa hub -- were not helping the carrier's plight, Padoa-Schioppa said.
He said he had hoped Alitalia would be acquired by a group of businessmen from northern Italy, but none came forward. Private equity firm TPG -- one of the initial contenders eyeing Alitalia -- had searched and failed to find a partner in the region, he said.
(Reporting by Deepa Babington; editing by Sue Thomas)
