Silvio Berlusconi’s campaign pledge to save Alitalia from a takeover by Air France-KLM appeared on Wednesday to be unravelling as Italian industrialists resisted the prime minister-elect’s proposal to buy the loss-making flag carrier.

Promising to keep Alitalia in Italian hands had been the single biggest issue in the election campaign, with Mr Berlusconi and his allies owing their decisive victory in large part to a more protectionist economic policy.