Alitalia's administrator formally agreed Nov. 20 to sell part of the bankrupt airline's assets to a group of Italian investors in a deal worth more than €1 billion ($1.25 billion).

Augusto Fantozzi said at a news conference he had accepted the offer by CAI Compagnia Aerea Italiana, the company created by the investors.

The new Alitalia is expected to launch Dec. 1 — some two years after the government started the long and difficult process of unloading its 49.9 percent stake in the troubled carrier.

The government gave its go-ahead to the deal Nov. 19 after the European Union approved it Nov. 12.

The group of Italian investors will acquire Alitalia's profitable assets, including some of its planes, and landing and takeoff slots, under a plan to relaunch the airline by cutting jobs and routes, and combining it with the much smaller Air One, Italy's No. 2 carrier.