Newly launched Italian carrier ITA Airways is intending to join the SkyTeam alliance, continuing the allegiance of its predecessor Alitalia. The new carrier initiated operations on 15 October, with an Airbus A320 service from Milan Linate to Bari, and started charter flights with a Milan Malpensa-Rome Fiumicino sortie. Its initial network of 44 destinations, covered by 59 routes, will increase to 74 destinations and 89 routes by 2025. The company has signed ground-handling and maintenance pacts with Alitalia, which remains in administration. ITA says it will “focus” on Fiumicino and Linate with the aim of being the “reference airline” for business and leisure traffic. It adds that it will join the SkyTeam alliance and introduce codesharing with other SkyTeam carriers to increase connectivity – although it says it will depend on its identifying a “strategic partner”. Alitalia previously had equity tie-ups with SkyTeam’s Air France-KLM as well as Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways.<br/>
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Italy’s new national airline took to the skies for the first time on Friday morning, putting an end to the 75-year-old bankrupt Alitalia. An early morning flight that touched down in the southern city of Bari signalled the handover from Alitalia to Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) after years of financial troubles and attempted rescues that cost the Italian government billions. ITA took over the Alitalia brand — and the right to use its green, white and red livery — for just E90m, far less than the original E290m asking price. The name Alitalia, however, is to be abandoned. Under a deal with the European Commission, ITA will be economically independent and will not be liable for any illegal state aid received by Alitalia in recent years. The new carrier will also have to be profitable by the end of its 2021-25 business plan and, according to chair Alfredo Altavilla, will be on the hunt for a deal with a larger airline before the end of 2022 because it is too small to stand alone. “ITA will start holding talks to reach a deal [with another player] from next week, aiming to complete it by 2022,” said Altavilla on Friday. Earlier this month US airline Delta’s chief executive Ed Bastian said he was in discussions with ITA about possible joint ventures. As part of the agreement between Italy and Brussels to allow the new company to operate, state-owned ITA will start with 52 jets and 2,800 employees, compared with the 110 aircraft and about 10,000 employees of Alitalia. ITA will initially serve 44 destinations, set to rise to 75 by 2025. <br/>