Rome (dpa) - Atlantia, a motorways and airport company controlled by the Benetton family, was picked Monday as the fourth rescuer of Italy's stricken Alitalia airline.

The decision was taken by state-controlled railways Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), which is due to become the leading shareholder in the airline, currently under bankruptcy administration.

The other investors are the Economy Ministry and US airline Delta.

The board of FS "has today identified Atlantia as the partner to work alongside Delta Air Lines and the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the Alitalia operation," a statement said.

The Benetton family originally made its fortune in the garment industry, becoming known worldwide for colourful jumpers and other garments, but has long branched out into the infrastructure sector.

Their involvement in Alitalia is controversial because Italy's populist government blamed Atlantia for last year's collapse of a motorway bridge in Genoa in which 43 people died.

Deputy premier Luigi Di Maio, leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, pledged there would be no softening of positions towards Atlantia as a reward for helping out with Alitalia.

Di Maio also said, "we can say that we have created the conditions for the relaunch of Alitalia," and claimed it as a "great result" for the government.

In fact, there is a lot of scepticism about the airline's prospects. It has has not turned a profit since 2002, and has been kept afloat in by state loans totalling 900 million euros (1 billion dollars).

FS said it had yet to finalize a business plan and make a formal takeover offer - something likely to take several weeks, if not months.

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