Italy’s new national airline ITA takes to the skies, marking end of Alitalia

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/>