Goodbye Alitalia, hello Alitalia!
On 14 October, Alitalia conducted its final flight. The flight, AZ1586, left Cagliari at 22:36 and arrived at Rome-Fiumicino at 23:23, and was operated by A320 EI-DSV (3598). On 15 October, Italia Trasporto Aereo -ITA officially launched as Alitalia's successor. The first flight was AZ1637, from Milan-Linate to Bari, which was operated by A320 EI-EKU (1217).
ITA has, however, won the bid for the Alitalia-branding on 14 October and has paid 90 million euros to the administrators of Alitalia. As a result, ITA will operate under the Alitalia-brand, which was fully expected. The only difference is that the three letter-code has changed into ITY, while the two letter-code remains AZ. The new Alitalia will also stay in the SkyTeam-alliance.
To celebrate the launch of the new Alitalia, ITA has painted A320 EI-EIB (4249) in a special "Born in 2021" livery. The aircraft arrived at Rome-Fiumicino from Shannon on 15 October and will be used to present the new Alitalia to the world on this day.
Despite the usage of the Alitalia-brand, things did changed at the new company as it currently only employs around 2,800 co-workers, a big reduction compared to the 10,500 staff the old Alitalia had on payroll. ITA is also starting with a much smaller fleet than the one operated by Alitalia as it will launch with one ERJ190, seventeen A319s, 27 A320s and seven A330-200s, which is a reduction of 25 aircraft compared to the old Alitalia.
Earlier this month, the airline announced it will lease and buy new Airbus-aircraft to replace its older aircraft.
