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Etihad president reveals plans for Alitalia partnership

22 Oct 2014

Ahead of EU-approval of Etihad’s proposed 49 per cent stake in Alitalia, the two carriers have announced they will be official global carriers for Expo 2015 in Milan

At press conferences in both Abu Dhabi International and Milan Malpensa on Monday, two A330-200 aircraft were unveiled with custom Expo 2015 liveries. One will be operated by the Gulf airline; the other by the Italian.

About 20 million people are expected to fly to Milan for the event next year, between May 1 and October 31, with about eight million from overseas.

Flight frequencies to and from the northern Italian city will increase during Expo 2015 when Alitalia will commence daily flights between Milan Malpensa and Abu Dhabi. These flights will connect with Etihad Airways’ services throughout the Middle East and with markets in the Indian sub-continent, South East Asia, and Africa.

James Hogan, president and CEO of Etihad said: “Because Etihad Airways is seeking approval for investment in Alitalia it is also fitting that our two airlines have been chosen as official global airline carriers for Expo 2015. This is a partnership that will benefit Milan but also the wider region of northern Italy well beyond 2015.

“There is a strong connection between Italy and the UAE – there are approximately 300 Italian companies in the UAE and it is also home to 10,000 Italian citizens, and Italy is a major focus for UAE investment. Milan and northern Italy will share prominently in this vision from Etihad Airways and Alitalia.

“Our joint vision is to revitalise and recreate Alitalia, to again make it one of the world’s great brands. Alitalia must rebuild to become an airline for the whole nation.

“Etihad Airways and Alitalia understand the need to grow strategically and support the government’s need to revitalise the Italian economy. A strong economy depends largely on a strong national airline and through our proposed investment in Alitalia, we have significant plans to develop the city as a key strategic junction in our joint global networks, delivering economic and social benefits to northern Italy.

“Our plan will integrate the strength of Malpensa airport as the main gateway to northern Italy and Linate as a northern connection point between Alitalia’s vast domestic network and destinations throughout Europe.

“Etihad Airways is already a frequent visitor here with daily passenger flights to and from Abu Dhabi. The route will be better served next year when Alitalia commences daily flights between Malpensa and Abu Dhabi, connecting with onward flights with Etihad Airways.”

In 2011, Etihad bought a 29 per cent equity stake in Air Berlin – last week, Alitalia announced a new codeshare partnership with the carrier, using Linate airport to connect northern Italy with Germany.

The Gulf airline also own portions of Air Serbia, Aer Seychelles, Aer Lingus, Darwin Airline (now Etihad Regional), Jet Airways and Virgin Australia. Hogan said: “We are a confederation of nine airlines so what we are building is global connectivity – in relation to transatlantic [routes], that’s Alitalia’s role. We see Alitalia bringing its business out of Milan and out of Rome to the Americas – we have no intention in our own right to fly transatlantic. We don’t need to – we have Alitalia.

“We are confident that with a clean sheet of paper and a great brand [Alitalia] can move forward.” In terms of its fleet, he adds: “What Alitalia has now works – as you know we have an order book of 200 aircraft so once the airline stabilises there is huge flexibility to work together. Within our deal with both Airbus and Boeing we have the flexibility to move aircraft between partners.”

Visit alitalia.com, etihad.com

Jenny Southan

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