It’s official: Alitalia is shutting down. While the end of the airline has been clear for months
now, the carrier officially announced last week that it will stop flying from October 14th.
All flights beyond this date have been canceled, and passengers have
been advised to request a refund or travel before the date. From the 15th of October,
I.T.A. will become the new Italian flag carrier, kicking off a new era for Italian aviation.
Effective from August the 25th, Alitalia is no longer selling tickets for flights
from 15th October, limiting its advance sales. This effectively means that the
airline will cease to operate after this date. Despite the fact that some of ITA’s fleet will
come from Alitalia, the new airline is a wholly different entity with its own air
operators certificate. As a result, there won’t be any rebookings of Alitalia flights available.
Indeed, attempting to book tickets on the Alitalia website beyond the October deadline throws up a
“no flights available” error message. Thus, after a few years of doubt over the carrier’s future,
we now know that the end is finally here, ending 74 years of operation under the Alitalia name.
The date of Alitalia’s closure coincides with the arrival of ITA, which stands for Italia trasporto
aereo. While it was first understood that this was merely the name of the organization setup to form
the new carrier, it seems quite clear now that this will also be the name of the carrier itself.
Now with its own Air Operators certificate granted, ITA will make
its first flight on the 15th of October. The airline has already received its first
A330-200, which is the first of 52 jets destined for the airline.
This aircraft, EI-EJN, is a former Alitalia jet that ITA has purchased and used for its
certification procedure. It will soon be repainted into a new livery featuring the Italian flag.
For its launch, the new carrier won’t be low on funds like its predecessor. After
protracted negotiations with the EU Competition Commission, ITA had secured €700 million ($822.5m)
in funding in late July and will receive more until 2025. However, this has come at a cost.
That’s because ITA will not inherit all of Alitalia’s slots at airports in Rome and Milan,
according to Reuters. Instead, the new airline will only receive
43% of the former carrier’s slots at Rome Fiumicino and 85% at Milan Linate Airport.
Since July, ITA has been slowly purchasing or leasing Alitalia assets to start its own
operations. This has seen Alitalia-liveried jets marked with an ITA sticker to indicate
its future operator. A full integration of brands will take years and cost millions,
which means ITA may retain much of Alitalia’s flavor in its early days.
ITA plans to remain a lot smaller at launch, shedding much of its long-haul fleet and, sadly,
its workforce as well. For now, all eyes are on October 15th as ITA kicks off operations.
What do you think about Alitalia’s closure? Are you optimistic about
this new airline? Let us know in the comments.