Alitalia¡¯s bankruptcy administrator is close to selling the cargo unit of Italy¡¯s former state-owned airline. Alitalia’s Extraordinary Administrator, Augusto Fantozzi has set a 29 January deadline for companies to make offers for the cargo unit¡¯s five MD-11 freighters and its other assets. This will be followed immediately by a public tender. The cargo unit was not included in the US$1 billion acquisition of Italy’s national carrier by CAI, an Italian investor group, which launched a new, leaner airline on 12 January after selling a 25 per cent stake to Air France-KLM for nearly US$420 million. The freighters have been grounded since the relaunch, resulting in the suspension of international services from Italy to China, India, Japan, South Korea and the US. The cargo unit, Europe¡¯s seventh-largest, had accumulated losses of €16 million in 2007. Alis Aerolinee Italiane, an Italian all-cargo carrier established by Alcide Leali, founder of the Air Dolomiti passenger airline, is pegged as the front-runner to take over the Alitalia cargo assets, according to reports.