Of the many victims of Alitalia’s descent into collapse and its rescue – employees, partners, passengers – perhaps none has the sense of grievance of Giuseppe Bonomi, who runs the company that operates Malpensa airport, a white elephant in the making outside Milan.

One of two airports serving Italy’s business capital and its rich industrial hinterland, Malpensa has been in effect abandoned by the Italian flag-carrier as it slid into bankruptcy and, in severely slimmed-down fashion, was acquired last month by an investor consortium.