Etihad president and CE James Hogan believes there is potential for equity partner Alitalia to grow to 40 long-haul aircraft from its current fleet of 24. Alitalia added 2 Airbus A330s to its fleet in 2015 and it plans to take 1 Boeing 777-200ER in 2016, followed by 1 777-300ER and a further A330 in 2017. “We are evaluating options for additional long-haul aircraft,” Alitalia CE Cramer Ball said. “We don’t have detail at the moment, but we are looking at our long-haul route network, particularly to North America”. Hogan said Alitalia could access the aircraft through its partners within Etihad Aviation Group. Alitalia launched a new long-haul service to Santiago at the start of May and will add Mexico City in June, followed by Beijing in July. It is also assessing the potential for further long-haul growth to the US, Latin America and Asia. <br/>