Patience really is a virtue
ITA Airways inherits the role of historical Alitalia
Many months of perseverance have cooled Alitalia’s ashes. On 15 October ITA Airways replaced Alitalia’s aviation operations. Cargo activities also play an important role for the phoenix, which is set to build its long-haul network slowly and steadily.
For many months – nay years – there was great uncertainty concerning the future of Alitalia, which had such a long and storied tradition. In October then the curtain finally fell on the airline founded in 1946. Its trademark rights were taken over by ITA Airways – although they’ll remain unused for now.
This historic step couldn’t have been taken without cutbacks, especially in staffing levels. The fleet was reduced to 52 aeroplanes; it is now made up only of Airbus units, including seven A330s. This figure is expected to rise to 78 aircraft next year, including 13 widebodies, and to 105 in 2025, with 23 widebodies.
ITA is based at Rome FCO airport, with a secondary hub at Milan LIN – and not at Milan MXP, its former long-haul gateway. It plans to grow beyond Italy, the Mediterranean region and Europe. On 4 November it launched its first intercontinental link – FCO–New York JFK. Further international destinations will be added by June 2022 – Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Buenos Aires São Paulo and Tokyo HND.
On top of this ITA Airways and its freight division will be a member of the SkyTeam (cargo) alliance – as was already the case with its predecessor. The marketing of ITA’s airfreight capacities will also see a degree of continuity. The airline will continue to bank on ATC Aviation as its GSSA in Chile, Germany, Ecuador, Canada, Colombia, Peru, Switzerland, South Africa and the USA. ITA Airways CCO Emiliana Limosana considers this partnership to be “a key to the development of our cargo activities in the coming months.”