Italian carrier ITA Airways has shuffled its board of directors ahead of Lufthansa Group’s entry into its governing structure. The board has been reduced from five members to three, including Antonino Turicchi as chair, supported by advisors Valeria Vaccaro and Francesco Spada. Former CE Fabio Lazzerini is stepping down, along with Frances Ouseley and Ugo Arrigo. ITA has acknowledged their contribution to the airline’s “complex start-up phase” and transition towards privatisation. Lazzerini’s powers will be entrusted to chief network and fleet officer Andrea Benassi. It states that the three-member board is in line with agreements between Lufthansa Group and the Italian economics and finance ministry. Lufthansa Group had previously confirmed that it would be taking a 41% shareholding of ITA. As a result of its entry into the shareholding structure the German company will appoint two additional members, one of whom will be the CE. “This marks another crucial step in the path identified in the business plan of ITA Airways,” says the carrier.<br/>
star
One of the world’s biggest airlines, Turkish Airlines, has been forced to put its plans of expanding services into Australia indefinitely on hold after it failed to win government approval in time for an expected launch of highly sought after capacity to Europe from Melbourne and Sydney. The setback appears at odds with the Albanese government’s objective of fostering airline competition, after it knocked back Qatar’s application to send more flights to Australia. At a gala event in Melbourne on Friday, the chairman of Turkish Airlines, Ahmet Bolat, told The Australian Financial Review that the airline had encountered “legal issues” that stopped a formal announcement being made on the night. “There are some legal issues that we have to solve between the Turkish government and the Australian government, but today in the meeting the [Melbourne Airport owner Asia Pacific Airports Corporation] mentioned that they are on the issue,” Bolat said. Turkish Airlines currently flies to the most destinations of any airline in the world, and had been expected to name Melbourne as the 130th at the event. Turkish Airlines has the right to land four flights a week under an existing bilateral agreement between Australia and Turkey, but Bolat said the airline is trying to expand its air rights to 14 flights a week or daily services to Melbourne and Sydney. He said Turkish Airlines also needs “fifth freedoms”, or the right to sell tickets between Melbourne and Singapore, and Sydney and Singapore, as well as the longer Melbourne- and Sydney-to-Istanbul via Singapore fares, for the service to make commercial sense. This had caused some hesitance on the airline’s part. “In the 42 hours [that it takes to fly to Australia and back] I can fly to Miami twice. I’m sorry to say that is more profitable than flying to Sydney and Melbourne,” Bolat said, on the basis that the necessary fifth freedoms are out of reach.<br/>