Italy’s new flag carrier has unveiled a blue livery which will eventually feature on its planned fleet of 105 aircraft.
ITA Airways launched on October 15, following the closure of its predecessor Alitalia, and the new carrier has published images of its livery, which has been inspired by the blue of Italy’s national football and rugby teams.
The green, white and red tricolour of the country’s flag – which featured so prominently in Alitalia’s livery – has been retained along the aircraft’s tailfin and on the engines.
ITA said that it had acquired the Alitalia brand (for a reported sum of more that €90 million) “with the aim of managing the transition to the new livery and reserving the right to future uses of the brand”.
The carrier also signalled its intention to join Skyteam “pending the identification of a strategic partner” (Alitalia had been a member of the alliance since 2001), and a new four-tier loyalty programme will operate under the name Volare.
ITA said that it would focus its activity on operations at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate “where it will position itself as the reference airline for business and leisure traffic”.
It plans to initially operate a network of 44 destinations and 59 routes, rising to 74 routes in 2022 and 89 by 2025, and will start with a fleet of 45 narrowbody and seven widebody aircraft, with new aircraft deliveries taking this to 105 aircraft by 2025.
“For every end there is always a new beginning,” said Fabio Lazzerini, CEO of ITA Airways. “This is just the first step in an ambitious project: the creation of the new flagship airline that will connect our country to the world and represent it through the work of the women and men who are and will be part of it”.
The launch of ITA Airways brings to an end years of uncertainty over the Alitalia brand – the national carrier first entered bankruptcy back in 2008, and at one stage had been thought to be losing around €2 million per day.
