ITA, the new Italian carrier that will replace cash-strapped Alitalia, aims to get control of ticket sales from the old airline as soon as possible, ITA CEO Fabio Lazzerini said Thursday. Rome last year began a plan to restructure Alitalia and launch ITA, which was supposed to become operative in early April. This was delayed by lengthy negotiations with the European Commission, which has asked the new carrier to give up half of Alitalia’s slots at Milan Linate airport, the old brand and the loyalty programme. ITA now hopes to find a compromise with EU in the short term and launch its business on July 1. “Giving up half of (Alitalia’s) Linate slots is too much to ask,” Lazzerini said, adding that ITA proposed to relinquish some slots at Rome Fiumicino airport to find a less painful deal with the EU on Linate. Fiumicino, Alitalia’s main hub, is operated by Aeroporti di Roma, part of infrastructure group Atlantia. Speaking in front of four parliamentary committees, Lazzerini said that ITA would need a strong partner to thrive. The new company has already started talks with Air France-KLM, Delta and Virgin on one side and Lufthansa on the other over a possible alliance.<br/>
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Taiwan began moving more than 400 people to a centralised quarantine facility on Thursday from an airport hotel after a rare domestic outbreak of COVID-19, and will sterilise the entire hotel building. Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control because of early and effective prevention, including largely closing its borders. Most cases have been imported from abroad, though the island has reported sporadic domestic infections in recent months. Since last week it has reported COVID-19 infections in nine freighter pilots from Taiwan’s largest carrier, China Airlines, some of whom had been staying at the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel, now being evacuated. They are thought to have been infected overseas. China Airlines, which has had to cancel some flights while its pilots are tested, said it was fully complying with government epidemic prevention steps and stepping up vaccinations for staff. “During the pandemic the virus is everywhere, and China Airlines will not let up for a moment,” it said.<br/>
KLM has debuted a cabin upgrade for the first of 14 Boeing 737-800s, part of a fleet revamp it aims to complete by March next year. The refurbished aircraft, which are mostly deployed on European flights, have new seats in economy and business classes. The seats are around 20% lighter than previous seats, contributing to estimated annual savings of 58 tonnes of fuel and 184 tonnes of CO2 emissions per aircraft. The upgraded cabins also have onboard connectivity, USB ports for charging devices, and larger overhead bins. KLM executive vice-president customer experience Boet Kreiken, says: “KLM wants to offer its passengers even more comfort and style on European flights, while reducing the CO2 emissions of flights. That is why KLM continues to invest in its onboard product and sustainability, so we can continue to meet our customers’ expectations and emerge stronger from the crisis.”<br/>