Italian airline Alitalia said it has agreed to exchange three of its 13 pairs of slots at London's Heathrow Airport for an estimated EUR92 million euros (USD$132 million).
The state-controlled airline, which is losing about EUR1 million a day, offered no details about the nature of the exchange. It said in a statement the slots being swapped were "non-strategic."
Alitalia said the swap was expected to add EUR54 million to its 2007 balance sheet. The remaining EUR38 million would be added to 2008 accounts.
Officials at Alitalia's press office said they did not have any additional information on the exchange, including the other party in the exchange and whether there was any additional compensation for the Heathrow slots beyond cash.
The airline's board of directors on Friday backed an acquisition bid from Air France-KLM. A decision on whether to enter into exclusive talks with Air France-KLM now rests with Alitalia's largest shareholder, the Italian state.
The government has said it will make its decision by mid-January, a deadline Alitalia management has said is important given the troubled state of Alitalia's accounts.
Alitalia reported on Monday that net debt on a group level rose 0.8 percent in November to EUR1.19 billion (USD$1.71 billion) by the end of the month.
The group had EUR95 million in cash-to-hand and short-term financial credits as of November 30, down 7.7 percent from the end of October.
It said passenger traffic increased 0.7 percent in November year over year, while capacity fell by the same amount.
