Italy's new airline takes to the skies

Italy’s new national airline, ITA Airways, has taken to the skies over the weekend, unveiling its new brand and logo as it replaces the failed Alitalia.

ITA, or Italy Air Transport, replaces bankrupt flag carrier Alitalia, which landed its final flights late last week after 74 years. 

The much-smaller ITA Airways is hiring only around a quarter of Alitalia’s more than 10,000 former  employees although negotiations with unions are ongoing, Travel Mole reported.

ITA paid €90 million (around $AU140 million) for the rights to the Alitalia brand but has its own website and a new frequent flier program, called Volare (“Fly”).

“Discontinuity doesn’t mean denying the past, but evolving to keep up with the times,” ITA President Alfredo Altavilla said in a statement.

During a conference launching the airline, Altavilla insisted that the greatly reduced size of ITA - its slimmer fleet, workforce and destinations - will make it a viable carrier that can compete with low-cost airlines while offering better service, connections and value.

“ITA Airways is being born right-sized, in the optimal dimensions both in terms of the size of its fleet and its destinations,” he said. “We don’t carry with us the negative inheritance of being too big that conflict with the economic reality.”

ITA is flying to 44 destinations and aims to increase that number to 74 in four years.

Among its routes, the company plans to operate flights to New York from Milan and Rome, and to Tokyo, Boston and Miami from Rome. 

European destinations from Rome and Milan’s Linate airport will also include Paris, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva and Frankfurt, Germany. 

Routes to South America and Los Angeles are planned. For now, the new blue Airbus aircraft pictured above exists only in advertisements, with Alitalia’s old white fleet still flying. 

The company launched with 2,800 employees - 70% of them from Alitalia - and said it expects to increase the size of its workforce to 5,750 by 2025.

For details see www.itaspa.com

Alitalia grounded for good

 

Once regarded as one of the world's leading airlines, troubled Italian flag carrier Alitalia will go out of business on October 15.

After decades of financial woes, the airline this week ceased selling tickets for after that date after 75 years in the aviation business.

The government-owned Italia Transporto Aereo, or ITA, will become Italy’s new national carrier.

All Alitalia flights that had been scheduled to fly after October 15 have been cancelled.

The Italian state-owned airline - part of the SkyTeam alliance that includes Delta Air Lines, Air France, and KLM- declared bankruptcy in May 2017. It is known or being the airline that usually flies the Pope on charter flights around the world. 

The global Covid-19 pandemic dealt a final blow to the ailing airline.

Those with ticket booked for after October 15 will be able to change them to a comparable flight, or get a refund.

The new, Italian Government-owned Italia Transporto Aereo (ITA) plans to operate flights to New York from Milan and Rome, and to Tokyo, Boston, and Miami from Rome. 

Other Destinations from Rome and Milan’s Linate airport will include Paris, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Geneva.

ITA plans to operate a fleet of seven wide-body and 45 narrow-body aircraft and will add 26 more planes later this year. 

Alitalia carried 21.3 million passengers in 2019 and currently has 10,000 employees. It is unclear what will happen to those employees or whether the new company will take on some of them.