ITA Airways

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Aero Trasporti Italiani.
For the Brazilian airline, see ITA Transportes Aéreos. For the Google aviation software division, see ITA Software. For the predecessor of ITA Airways, see Alitalia.

ITA Airways
ITA Airways Logo.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
AZ ITY[1] ITARROW[2]
Founded11 November 2020; 16 months ago (2020-11-11)
Commenced operations15 October 2021; 4 months ago (2021-10-15)
AOC #IT.AOC.0194[3]
HubsRome–Fiumicino
Focus citiesMilan–Linate
Frequent-flyer programVolare
Alliance
Fleet size55
Destinations38
Parent companyGovernment of Italy (via Ministry of Economy and Finance)
HeadquartersRome, Lazio, Italy
Key people
Websitewww.itaspa.com

Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A., trading as ITA Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Italy.[4] It is fully owned by the Government of Italy via the Ministry of Economy and Finance. [5] The airline flies to over 41 scheduled domestic, European, and a few intercontinental destinations (to be expanded). ITA Airways is a member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance.

History[]

Background[]

Main article: Alitalia

Italy's flag carrier Alitalia had been in operations since 1946. It was owned by the Italian government until 2009, when it became a private company after reorganizing and merging with the bankrupt Italian airline Air One.[6] Alitalia reorganized again in 2015 after receiving an investment from Etihad Airways, with Air France-KLM Group already owning a minority stake.[7][8] With multiple failed attempts to make the airline profitable, the airline was placed under extraordinary administration in 2017 just days after Etihad Airways ended its support of Alitalia.[9] On 17 May 2017, after the government ruled out nationalizing the airline, it was officially put up for sale to be auctioned off.[10]

After multiple failed negotiations with Delta Air Lines, EasyJet, Italian railway company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, and China Eastern Airlines, the Italian government took ownership of the airline in March 2020.[11][12] The government takeover was due in part to the belief the airline would not be able to survive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its own.[13] On 10 October 2020, the Italian government signed a decree to allow the airline to reorganize as Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A.[14]

2020s[]

On 28 October 2020, it was reported that ITA was expected to buy several assets from Alitalia – Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., including the brand and the flight codes of Alitalia and Alitalia CityLiner, the IATA ticketing code (055), the MilleMiglia frequent-flyer program, and airport slots at London Heathrow (68 weekly slots in summer and 65 in winter). The transaction was expected to cost €220 million.[15]

However, on 8 January 2021, the European Commission sent a letter to the Italian Permanent Representative to the European Union calling for Italy to launch an "open, transparent, non-discriminatory and unconditional tender" to shed Alitalia assets.[16] The letter consisted of 62 requests for clarification, rejecting the idea that the old carrier could sell its assets to the new company with no open bidding. The letter stated that ITA should not retain the Alitalia brand, since the brand is an emblematic indicator of continuity. The European Commission suggested that the combined aviation, ground handling, and maintenance businesses should be sold separately to a third party. It also suggested that slots must be sold, and that the MilleMiglia program in its entirety could not be transferred to the new corporate entity.[17]

On 26 August 2021, ITA officially opened ticket sales on its newly launched website.[18]

On 27 August 2021, ITA applied for an Exemption and a Foreign Air Carrier Permit with the United States Department of Transportation.[19] The document noted the airline's intention to start flying to New York City, Boston and Miami in 2021, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. in 2022, and Chicago and San Francisco in 2023. The same document stated that prior to the start of its flight operations, planned for 15 October 2021, ITA would acquire certain assets from Alitalia – Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., and that ITA would also participate in a public tender to acquire the "Alitalia" brand.

On 30 September 2021, ITA announced that it would work with Airbus as a "strategic partner", providing details of its fleet plans.[20][21] The airline announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for the purchase of 10 Airbus A330neo, 7 Airbus A220 and 11 Airbus A320neo aircraft, for a total of 28, along with an agreement with Air Lease Corporation to lease an additional 31 new Airbus aircraft, including the Airbus A350-900.[22][21]

On 22 October 2021, former Alitalia employees who had not been rehired, protested against ITA. Women at the demonstration shouted slogans wearing only white nightgowns. Company CEO Alfredo Altavilla called the protest "a national shame". [23]

On 29 October 2021, ITA announced that it had officially joined the SkyTeam alliance.[24]

On 24 January 2022, ITA announced that MSC Group and Lufthansa had expressed an interest in becoming majority owners of the Italian airline, with the Italian Government keeping a minority stake.[25][26]

Corporate affairs[]

Ownership and corporate office[]

ITA is fully owned by the Italian government via the Ministry of Economy and Finance. As such, the airline's corporate offices are located in the ministry.

The airline's leadership is as follows:

  • Alfredo Altavilla (Chairman)
  • Fabio Lazzerini (CEO)

Logo and livery[]

On 15 October 2021, the day flight operations began, ITA Airways' new brand was also presented. Its aircraft livery features a renewed design and new color scheme, with blue for the fuselage and white for the wings, and a white "ITA Airways" logo with part of the letter A in red and the Italian tricolor at the end of the tail. The “Alitalia” brand, though not currently used, was purchased for potential future marketing operations and to prevent its use by competitors. [27]

Destinations[]

Main article: List of ITA Airways destinations

ITA plans to serve 45 destinations (including 21 in Italy) with 61 routes, growing to 74 destinations and 89 routes by 2025.[28]

Alliances[]

ITA Airways has been a member of SkyTeam alliance since 29 October 2021.[29]

Codeshare agreements[]

ITA Airways has the following codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet[]

Current fleet[]

As of October 2021, ITA Airways operates an All-Airbus fleet:[43]

ITA Airways fleet
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
B E+ E Total Refs
Airbus A220-100 — 7 TBA Delivery starts in 2023, leased from Air Lease Corporation.[44]
Airbus A220-300 — 15 TBA Delivery starts in 2022, leased from Air Lease Corporation.[44]
Airbus A319-100 18 — — — 144 144 [45] Taken over from Alitalia after its closure.
EI-IMN, EI-IMB in ITA Airways livery.
Airbus A320-200 30 — — — 171 171 [46] Taken over from Alitalia after its closure.
EI-EIB wears the "Born In 2021" livery.[47]
EI-DTE, EI-IKU, EI-DTN, EI-DSW, EI-DTO in ITA Airways livery.
180 180
Airbus A320neo — 19 TBA Delivery starts in 2022, leased from Air Lease Corporation and directly ordered from Airbus.[44]
Airbus A321neo — 20 TBA Delivery starts in 2022, leased from Air Lease Corporation.[44]
Airbus A330-200 7 1 20 17 219 256 [48] Taken over from Alitalia after its closure.
EI-EJP, EI-EJO in ITA Airways livery.
Airbus A330-900 — 15 TBA Delivery starts in 2022, leased from Air Lease Corporation and ordered directly from Airbus.[44]
Airbus A350-900 — 8 TBA Delivery starts in June 2022, leased from Air Lease Corporation.[44]
Total 55 85

Fleet development[]

An Airbus A320 of the airline

ITA Airways plans on operating a fleet of 7 wide-body and 45 narrow-body aircraft at the beginning of operations. It is planned that the fleet will be expanded to 78 aircraft by 2022.[28] As planned, ITA Airways indicates it would operate 10 regional aircraft (possibly the Airbus A220) and 55 short haul aircraft possibly being the Airbus A320neo and the Airbus A321neo, and 13 new jets for long haul connections being the Airbus A330neo and the Airbus A350. If consistency is kept with up to 100 jets within the fleet between 2024 and 2025 the possibility of brand new Airbus A321XLRs would be a possibility for longer single aisle routes, with the routes possibly being Dakar, Accra and Lagos in Africa and Jeddah, Riyadh and Kuwait City in the Middle East.[49] Fleet expansion is planned starting in 2022.

Announced on 30 September 2021, ITA Airways signed an agreement with Airbus with an order for 10 Airbus A330neo, 11 Airbus A320neo and 7 Airbus A220. ITA Airways also announced an agreement with Air Lease Corporation and other aircraft leasing companies to take up 56 aircraft, including the Airbus A220, Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A330neo, and Airbus A350.[20][21][22][44]

On 15 October 2021, ITA Airways took over 18 A319-100, 25 A320-200, and 6 A330-200 from Alitalia. This is occurred in the wake of Alitalia’s shutdown on 14 October 2021, before the commencement of ITA Airways’s operations on 15 October 2021. These aircraft joining the fleet were in addition to the 2 A320-200 and the 1 A330-200 already under the ITA Airways AOC. This addition of these 49 aircraft brought ITA Airways’s fleet total to 52 aircraft, the planned number for the start of operations.

Services[]

Frequent flyer program[]

Volare is the airline's loyalty program, through which customers accrue points based on miles flown.[50] The airline was not permitted to buy Alitalia's MilleMiglia loyalty program by the European Commission.[citation needed]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Buyck, Cathy. "Alitalia Successor ITA Moves Closer to Mid-October Launch". Aviation International News. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  2. ^ "The Aviation Codes Website - Airline Codes beginning with". www.avcodes.co.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Regulations.gov". www.regulations.gov. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. ^ "ITA to start off with 2,800 workers". Ansa.it. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  5. ^ Puckett, Jessica (5 August 2021). "What U.S. Travelers Should Know About Italy's New Airline". Conde Nast Traveler. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  6. ^ Di Leo, Luca; Sorlini, Gordon (21 November 2008). "Alitalia Rescue Plan Receives Governmental Green Light". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  7. ^ ""È arrivato il sì di Etihad", sempre più vicino l'accordo con Alitalia". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 1 August 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  8. ^ Dinmore, Guy; Done, Kevin; Boland, Vincent (12 January 2009). "Air France-KLM buys 25% of Alitalia". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Alitalia to Start Bankruptcy Process as Workers Spurn Bailout". Bloomberg.com. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  10. ^ "Italy kicks off Alitalia sale process". Reuters.com. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  11. ^ "FS launches bid to acquire Alitalia". International Railway Journal. 2 November 2018.
  12. ^ Ben (17 March 2020). "Italian Government Takes Full Control Of Alitalia". One Mile at a Time. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Rome to take full control of Alitalia in June: minister". Reuters. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Alitalia, nasce la Newco" (in Italian). Rai News. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Alitalia: logo, slot e "MilleMiglia" valgono 220 milioni di euro" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Letter from the European Commission to Permanent Representation of Italy, 8 January 2021" (PDF).
  17. ^ "Nuova Alitalia, ecco la lettera dell'Unione Europea che rischia di bloccare l'operazione" [New Alitalia, here is the letter from the European Union that risks blocking the operation]. espresso.repubblica.it (in Italian). 19 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  18. ^ Rome, Wanted in (25 August 2021). "ITA: Tickets go on sale for Italy's new national airline". Wanted in Rome. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Application of Italia Transporto Aereo,, S.p.A. for an Exemption and a Foreign Air Carrier Permit". United States Department of Transportation. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Italy's ITA selects Airbus for comprehensive fleet renewal". ch-aviation. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  21. ^ a b c Kleps, Kochan (30 September 2021). "Sidestick Tops Yoke: ITA to Takeoff with Airbus Fleet". Airways Magazine. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  22. ^ a b Kaminski-Morrow, David (30 September 2021). "Italy's ITA outlines Airbus-driven fleet plan including A330neos and A350s". Flight Global. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  23. ^ "Comissárias ficam de roupa íntima em protesto contra condições de trabalho".
  24. ^ Singh, Jay (17 October 2021). "ITA Plans SkyTeam Alliance Membership And Partnerships". Simple Flying. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  25. ^ Dunn2022-01-24T18:55:00+00:00, Graham. "Lufthansa teams with shipping firm in bid for majority of ITA Airways". Flight Global. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  26. ^ Reuters (23 January 2022). "Germany's Lufthansa in talks to buy 40% stake in Italy's ITA Airways - sources". Reuters. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Nova companhia aérea estatal da Itália inicia operações".
  28. ^ a b "About Us". ITA. Retrieved 28 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ "ITA Airways joins Skyteam". Business Traveller. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  30. ^ "ITA Airways and airBaltic Announce Codeshare Agreement" (PDF). ITA Airways (Press release). Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  31. ^ "ITA Airways e Air Europa, accordo per migliore connettività tra i due network" [ITA Airways and Air Europa, codeshare for a better connectivity between their networks]. teleborsa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  32. ^ "ITA Airways, accordo di codeshare con Air France" [ITA Airways, codeshare agreement with Air France]. borsaitaliana.it (in Italian). 9 December 2021.
  33. ^ Kaminski-Morrow2021-10-28T11:10:00+01:00, David. "New Italian carrier ITA to codeshare with Air Malta". Flight Global. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  34. ^ "Accordo di codice di code share tra Air Serbia e ITA Airways" [Codeshare agreement between Air Serbia and ITA Airways]. italiavola.com (in Italian). 18 November 2021.
  35. ^ "TAROM e Bulgaria Air sono in code share con ITA Airways" [TAROM and Bulgaria Air codeshare with ITA Airways]. italiavola.com (in Italian). 18 November 2021.
  36. ^ "ITA Airways sigla un accordo di code share con Delta Air Lines" [Codeshare agreement between ITA Airways and Delta Air Lines]. italiavola.com (in Italian). 20 December 2021.
  37. ^ "ITA Airways sigla accordo code-share con Etihad Airways" [ITA Airways signs a code-share agreement with Etihad Airways]. borsaitaliana.it. 7 December 2021.
  38. ^ "Kenya Airways Strikes Codeshare Deal With Italian Carrier, Ita Airways". allafrica.com. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  39. ^ "ITA Airways, codeshare con KLM" [ITA Airways, codeshare with KLM]. advtraining.it (in Italian). 3 December 2021.
  40. ^ "Qantas e ITA Airways vanno in code share" [Qantas codeshare with ITA Airways]. italiavola.com (in Italian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  41. ^ Machado, João (15 November 2021). "ITA and TAP announce codeshare agreement, increasing Italy-Portugal connectivity". Aviacionline.com. Retrieved 16 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  42. ^ "TAROM e Bulgaria Air sono in code share con ITA Airways" [TAROM and Bulgaria Air codeshare with ITA Airways]. italiavola.com (in Italian). 18 November 2021.
  43. ^ "ITA Airways Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  44. ^ a b c d e f g Inc, Digital Studios West. "Air Lease Corporation Announces Lease Placement of 31 New Airbus Aircraft with ITA". Air Lease Corporation. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  45. ^ "Seat map: A319" (PDF). Alitalia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  46. ^ "A320/32A - 180 SEATS - DOMESTIC FLIGHTS" (PDF).
  47. ^ "Ita-Alitalia, Washington gives the green light to flights with the USA". Il Corriere (in Italian). 18 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  48. ^ "Seat map: A330" (PDF). Alitalia.
  49. ^ "Ita, così sarà la nuova flotta: più sedili negli aerei e 3 classi sui voli lunghi". Corriere della Sera. 9 January 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  50. ^ "La vecchia Alitalia rinasce come Ita Airways: addio allo storico logo" (in Italian). 15 October 2021.

External links[]

Media related to ITA Airways at Wikimedia Commons

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