Italy unveils new national airline ITA Airways, marks Alitalia’s end
Dhaka: Italy's new national airline, ITA Airways, was launched on October 15 with a promise to bring pride back to its national flag carrier, after Alitalia, Italy's legacy airline, went bankrupt and ceased operations on October 14.
Executives unveiled plans for the new network, airplanes, staffing and livery at a press conference livestreamed from Rome.
The new ITA Airways planes will be colored sky-blue, with staff wearing uniforms by top Italian designers. Interiors and airport lounges will be dressed by high-class Italian firms, and even the cars and minibuses used to move around the grounds will be Italian.
"We have been born as a new Italian brand, and we have chosen to work only with Italian companies," said Alfredo Altavilla, President of ITA Airways.
The sky-blue livery, complete with green, red and white tricolore stripes of the Italian flag on the tail and on the engines, is a homage to the Azzurri, Italy's national sports teams, who wear sky blue ("azzurro") strips during competitions.
"Today is the first day of a history that has yet to be written," Altavilla said. "The new branding and the new livery of our planes are a symbol of that change, of the start of a new adventure."
"We want to give our clients an Italian experience, and when you think of contemporary Italy, it's rich and complex," he added.
"So our dream is to partner with companies from various disciplines, from the food to the styling of the aircraft, to the uniforms to the furniture in the lounges. Our vision is to use globally important Italian brands. It's our wish, but we're already talking with big brands."
The previous national airline Alitalia was drowning in debt for years before the pandemic, but Francavilla said that the future is bright for ITA, calling the airline "right-sized" both in terms of fleet, staffing and routing. Its plan is to operate a fleet of new Airbuses, which are both more efficient and less damaging to the environment.
The first new jets will enter the fleet in early 2022, and by late 2025, it says that 70 per cent of the fleet will be new-generation aircraft. It plans to start with 52, and increase to 105 by 2025.
ITA already has a loyalty programme, Volare, and it plans to join one of the major alliances -- though Francavilla would not be drawn on which one was favoured, saying all offers were being valued.
