Gruppo Banca Leonardo was engaged the services of Alitalia SpA to assist in the raising of hundreds of millions of Euros before the year's end. The largest Italian airline is now embarking on a new strategy that is aimed to stop its operating losses in 2014.

The Milan based advisory firm is set to provide a report on exploratory discussions with creditor banks during an Alitalia board meeting to be held within the month. This was confirmed by the airline through a statement made yesterday.

The industrial plan of Alitalia until 2016, that was published last July 7, detailed a need for increased financial resources by EUR300 million or USD395 million in 2013. The company is also planning to raise EUR55 million in convertible loans from investors after it had trued to raise EUR150 million early this year.

The largest shareholder in Air France-KLM Group (AF) and the airline is the largest in Europe. The airline had purchased 25% of the outstanding shares worth EUR323 million back in January 2009 after it was selected by the Italian flagcarrier as its partner instead of German rival Deutsche Lufthansa AG.