A new Italian state airline has emerged from the bankrupt Alitalia. Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) has announced that it plans to launch operations on October 15.
According to the news from GTP, Alitialia will stop selling tickets as of October 15th, and the assets of the airline will be turned over to the new entity. The Board of Directors of ITA has already approved the company’s binding offer for Alitalia’s assets that include 52 aircraft, a related number of slots, as well as contracts and complementary assets. The new airline has already submitted a non-binding offer to Alitalia’s administrators. ITA chairman Alfredo Altavilla was quoted saying:
“An indispensable condition and our top priority is to complete negotiation with Alitalia under extraordinary administration for the sale of the aviation perimeter as soon as possible.”
He went on to say the new airline has “confidence in a constructive interaction with the trade unions in order to provide ITA with a new innovative employment contract capable of ensuring structural competitiveness of the airline with competitors.”
A story at Travel Agent Central frames the airlines new operations. According to this story, the airline will serve 45 destinations with 61 routes, to be expanded later. In the winter 2021 season, ITA will operate routes to New York (from Rome and Milan), Tokyo, Boston and Miami (all three from Rome). For the summer of 2022, the company plans to launch new flights to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, São Paulo and Buenos Aires. Short haul flights were also mentioned.
ITA has started the sales of flights and the application process for staff on August 26 after obtaining its air operator certificate and operating license from Italian Aviation Authority ENAC. The airline has a website to facilitate the collection of applications from people interested in working at ITA. The airline also added a new loyalty program, according to the news release.