Ciao Alitalia! On August 18th, the Italian civil aviation authority ENAC has officially given the green light to ITA (Italia Trasporto Aereo) to operate airlines and sell tickets. ENAC has granted an air operator's certificate to the new entity, which replaces Alitalia.
Also, Alitalia has announced that it will stop selling tickets for all flights from 15 October.. Passengers with a for a flight after this date have the option of modify their departure or be reimbursed. Alitalia will send instructions by e-mail to customers who have purchased flights from 15 October onwards. There is clearly no possibility of transferring an Alitalia flight to ITA.
According to the strategic plan approved by the Italian authorities, ITA to start its career with a fleet of 52 aircraft - of which 7 long-haul aircraft. By 2022, however, the fleet will have grown to 78 aircraft, including 13 long-haul aircraft. By 2025, ITA will have 105 aircraft, including 23 long-haul aircraft. 81 of these will be brand new generation aircraft, reducing the environmental impact of flights.
ITA, a smaller network than Alitalia
In line with the strategic plan, ITA to serve 45 destinations in IATA's 2021/2022 winter season. They will depart from Rome-Fiumicino, its central hub, and Milan-Linate. The two airports will thus be linked to the main European destinations (including Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva, Frankfurt, London and Munich), Nice, Paris-Orly and CDG or Zurich). It will also operate routes to North Africa and the Middle East.
But only Fiumicino will benefit from a long-haul network consequently. It will include flights to New York-JFK, Boston, Miami and Tokyo-Haneda. The airline will also operate a route between Milan and New York. For the summer of 2022, the carrier has already announced that it will be landing in Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Washington DC. The company also plans to add Luxembourg and Marseille in French-speaking Europe in 2022. Finally, ITA will serve 21 airports in Italy from Rome and Milan.
ITA has opened a temporary online site for ticket sales. It is in Italian and English.
The company's strategic plan envisages that in In 2025, ITA will serve 74 destinations on 89 routes. from Milan-Linate and Rome-Fiumicino.
For the record, Alitalia has a fleet of 95 aircraft, carrying almost 20 million passengers a year in 2019 to around a hundred destinations.
