The new Italian airline and its successor, ETA Airlines, are planning to become a member of SkyTeam and want to separate quickly from Alitalia.
Alitalia no longer exists. The former Italian airline made its last flight last Thursday. With immediate effect, successor Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA for short) will take over the business. One will see something from Alitalia much longer, because ITA won’t start repainting, replacing tags, etc. very quickly, like airliners.de mentioned. However, ITA Airways has now submitted its own design and plans to join the SkyTeam alliance, for example simple flight mentioned.
“Departure to a new era”
ITA Airways will initially use the name of its successor Alitalia, because after all, the new Alitalia is flying Alitalia planes; After all, no plane has yet been repainted. The crew also initially wears the uniform of their predecessor, and signs and insignia, for example at airports, will remain in place. This is all part of an agreement between the two companies. This would save a lot of money on the ITA, because just replacing the banners would cost several million euros – and that’s not a good start. Now, however, the planned paint has been presented to ITA Airways and appears to have stirred up mixed feelings among viewers. The new colors must first be seen on newly delivered Airbus aircraft. The Airbus A220, A320neo and A330neo ordered here should start here. Rental machines must also come in a new paint scheme.
The bodywork of the machines is said to be a sky blue, while the tail unit is decorated in Italian tricolor. The airline’s name is written in large white letters on the front door. According to ITA Airlines, the blue chosen should represent “the dawn of a new era but also the pride of the country” and also represent “Italian sport and the national team”, who also wear blue jerseys.
In theory, ITA could have continued to fly under the Alitalia name. Finally, the young airline also secured the trademark rights to it. But according to the ITA, this was only done so that the competition wouldn’t snatch the name. ITA also renewed the airline’s plans to become a member of the SkyTeam alliance, of which Alitalia was also a member. Accordingly, there will also be codeshare flights with alliance partners, at least until a separate strategic partner is found. ITA Airways initially served a total of 44 destinations and 59 routes. Next year, the offer will be expanded to 58 destinations and 74 routes and by 2025 to 74 destinations and 89 routes.
“Expensive family but family”
It’s over with Alitalia – forever. The former Italian airline made its last flight on Thursday evening. For many years, Alitalia could not achieve any increasing profits and losses. The aura crisis was nothing but a nail in the coffin. Italia’s successor Trasporto Aereo (ITA for short) should do it all at the start, while the Alitalia took off for the last time last Thursday on a flight from Cagliari in Sardinia to Rome, which touched down in the Italian capital at around 11:10pm. ITA Airways has been taking over the business of its predecessor since Friday, although the new company is not the “economic” heir from an EU perspective. ITA should mean a whole new beginning.
Alitalia’s last flight marks the end of the company’s 74-year history. The first Alitalia plane took off on May 5, 1947 and flew from Turin via Rome to Catania. Alitalia meant a lot to Italians, for example Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi described the airline in April as “a rather expensive family, but still a family”. So see the 10,000 employees, who have repeatedly taken to the streets to protest for better working conditions and security. Because ITA plans, among other things, with 2,800 fewer employees. The popes also used Alitalia for their flights and were closely associated with the airline. So it so happened that Pope Francis reminded reporters on a previous trip to Budapest that the end of Alitalia was near.
Conclusion on ITA Airways’ plans
ITA Airways has taken over and Alitalia is history. Although Alitalia is not going away from Europe anytime soon, ITA wants to establish its own brand identity as quickly as possible. One can argue about the taste, especially with regard to the presented paint. After all, ITA now appears safe in its endeavor to join the SkyTeam Alliance.
