ROME : Around 100 employees of Alitalia's creditors protested Friday at Fiumicino airport in Rome over the Italian flag carrier's unpaid debts, Telenews agency reported.

Calling themselves the "silent victims" of the failing airline, they hoisted banners saying: "We get no redundancy benefits, we are only suppliers" and "We worked for Alitalia. Now we want to be paid."

On Thursday, Augusto Fantozzi, Alitalia's bankruptcy commissioner, said the airline currently owes 3.2 billion euros (four billion dollars).

The Italian government on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for Alitalia, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, to be sold to a group of investors for 1.052 billion euros.

The assets will be sold to the Italian Air Company (CAI), an investor group set up in an emergency move in August to relaunch the national airline.

While outstanding debts will be paid off once unwanted assets are sold off, Fantozzi has stated that the amount raised will not be enough to pay all creditors.

- AFP /ls