- Alitalia
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This article is about the new Alitalia. For the old Alitalia, see Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane.
Alitalia
Compagnia Aerea Italiana
IATA
AZICAO
AZACallsign
ALITALIAFounded 2008 Commenced operations 2009 Hubs Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport (Rome) Focus cities Focus Cities List- Caselle Airport (Turin)
- Fontanarossa Airport (Catania)
- Linate Airport (Milan)
- Malpensa Airport (Milan)
- Venice Marco Polo Airport
- Naples Airport
Frequent-flyer program MilleMiglia Airport lounge - Club Freccia Alata
- Welcome Air One
- SkyTeam Elite
Alliance SkyTeam Subsidiaries Air One Smart Carrier Fleet size 149 (+57 orders) Destinations 90 (41 countries) Parent company CAI (75%)
Air France-KLM (25%)Headquarters Fiumicino, Italy Key people Roberto Colaninno (Chairman)
Rocco Sabelli (CEO)Revenue 
3,225 million €(2010)[1]Operating income 
-107 million €(2010)Net income -168 million €(2010)Website alitalia.com 
Airbus A320-200 in current Alitalia livery
Boeing 777-200ER in Singapore (2010).
The interior of an Alitalia McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (2006)Alitalia — Compagnia Aerea Italiana S.p.A. (English: Alitalia — Italian Air Company), operating as Alitalia, is an Italian airline, which took over the name, the landing rights, many planes and some other assets from the liquidation process of the old Alitalia — Linee Aeree Italiane and the entire Air One. The company has its head office in Fiumicino, Italy.[2][3] Its main hub is Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, Rome.
Alitalia is Italy's biggest airline, and the world's 19th[citation needed]. Its fleet operates under five separate Air Operator Certificates due to the CAI merger: Alitalia-CAI (Alitalia) [IATA Code AZ], CAI-First (Alitalia Express) [IATA Code XM], CAI-second (Volare Airlines) [IATA Code VE], Air One [IATA Code AP], Air One CityLiner [IATA Code CT].
"Alitalia" is an Italian portmanteau of the words ali (wings), and Italia (Italy).
Contents
History
Creation of Alitalia-CAI
On 26 August 2008 a group of Italian entrepreneurs along with Intesa Sanpaolo, a major Italian bank, founded Compagnia Aerea Italiana (CAI) with the aim of buying the trademark and some of the assets of the bankrupt Alitalia — Linee Aeree Italiane and to merge these with Air One, another Italian carrier. Only the Alitalia trademark would be kept for the merged company.[4]
On 30 October 2008 CAI offered €1,100 million to acquire parts of the bankrupt airline. The offer was submitted to Alitalia's bankruptcy administrator despite the adverse opinion of several unions representing pilots and flight attendants.
On 19 November 2008, CAI's offer was accepted by the bankruptcy administrator of Alitalia with the permission of the Italian government, at the time major shareholder of the bankrupting airline.[5] Alitalia's profitable assets were transferred to CAI on 12 December 2008 after CAI paid €1.052 billion ($1.33 billion), consisting of €427 million in cash and the assumption of responsibility for €625 million in Alitalia debt.[6]
On 13 January 2009 the new Alitalia re-launched operations. The owners of Compagnia Aerea Italiana sold 25% of the company's shares to Air France-KLM for €322 million. Air France-KLM also obtained an option, subject to certain conditions, to purchase additional shares after 2013. The French as well as the Italian boards agreed to the sale.[7]
History under new ownership
In January 2010, Alitalia celebrated its first birthday since the relaunch. It carried 22 million passengers in its first year of operations.[8] In 2010, 23.4 million passengers were carried, a 7.4% increase.[9]
On 1 February 2010, it was announced that Alitalia crew would go on a four hour strike over wages. This was the first strike action for Alitalia since the relaunch.[10]
On 11 February 2010, Alitalia announced that, starting from the summer season, it would be using Air One as a "low-fare" airline, with operations based in Milan Malpensa Airport, focused on short-haul leisure routes. With initially 5 airplanes (Airbus A320), and 10 by 2012, Alitalia hopes to carry 3 million passengers in 2012 from Milan Malpensa (compared to 1.5 million in 2009), of which 2.4 million will be carried by the new Air One "Smart Carrier".[11]
On 12 February 2011, information was released about a possible merger between Alitalia and Meridiana Fly, another Italian carrier. The merge would take place through a share swap and give the Aga Khan who controls Meridiana between 5 and 7 percent of Alitalia, which corresponds to a valuation of Meridiana of about 100 million euros ($135 million).[12]
Slogans
A variety of different slogans are currently being used by Alitalia:
- "Alitalia vola con te" (Alitalia flies with you)[13]
- "Fatti per volare alto" (Made to fly high)[14]
- "Alitalia, al lavoro per te" (Alitalia, working for you)[15]
- "Muoviamo chi muove l'Italia" (We move the people that keep Italy going)[16]
- "The pleasure of flying Made in Italy"[17]
The old Alitalia, since 2005, year in which the new modernised logo and livery were introduced, also used a mixture of slogans:[18]
- "Volare, nella tua vita" (Flying, in your life)
- "Volare in compagnia dell'Italia" (Fly Italian)
Airline operations
Alitalia head office in FiumicinoAdministration
Altialia's head office is located in Piazza Almerico da Schio, Pal. RPU – 00054 Fiumicino (RM). The chairman of the airline is Roberto Colaninno; the chief executive officer is Rocco Sabelli.
Compagnia Aerea Italiana (CAI), a consortium that bought all the profitable activities of the old Alitalia and Air One in 2008,[19] holds a 75% stake in Alitalia, while Air France holds the other 25%.
Finance and load factors
Alitalia Self Check-in machines at Florence Peretola AirportAlitalia Financial and operational results Year Operating profit (€ millions) Load Factor (%) On-time (%) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Average Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Average 2009[20][21] -210 -63 15 -15 -273 51 65 74 70 65 72 72 ND ND 72 2010[22][23][24][25] -125 -4 56 -34 -107 65 71 76 72 71 82 83 ND ND 80 2011[26] -86 17 × × -69 64 72 × × 68 91 88 × × 89.5 ND = No Data
- As of 29 July 2009 Alitalia is the first airline for domestic flights in Italy and was the third airline for international flights to/from Italy. As of 4 October 2010 Alitalia has overtaken Easyjet in this respect and is therefore in second place.[27][28]
- Rocco Sabelli, the airline CEO, admitted in 2009 that he expected an "uphill struggle" for 2010 (and indeed losses amounted to 107 million Euros), whereas profit or at least a break-even should be possible for 2011, as has been confirmed on 9 May 2011, despite the difficulties arising from high fuel costs and recent regional troubles in Japan and North Africa.[21][26]
- Alitalia has been nominated as Europe's most punctual airline.[22]
- As of 28 October 2010, Alitalia has 53% of the market share on domestic routes (based on seat capacity).[24]
- In terms of 2010 passenger results, the best results were achieved on international and intercontinental routes, with passengers up by 12 and 14% on these routes respectively. The total number of passengers for the period was 23.4 million.[25]
Destinations
Main article: Alitalia destinationsAlitalia, including flights operated by its subsidiary Air One Smart Carrier, serves 90 destinations; 28 domestic and 62 international, in 40 countries (at October 2010).[29]
Alitalia has codeshare agreements with the following airlines, besides SkyTeam members:
- Luxair
- Malaysia Airlines (future Oneworld member)
- Malév Hungarian Airlines (Oneworld member)
- TAP Portugal (Star Alliance member)
- Ukraine International Airlines
Fleet
As of September 2011, the combined Alitalia fleet including Alitalia (AZ), Alitalia Express (XM), Air One S.C. (AP) and Alitalia CityLiner (CT) consists of the following aircraft:[30][31][32][33]
Alitalia Fleet Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes J Y+ Y Total Airbus A319-100 16 1 var. 0 var. 138° Deliveries: until 2011 Airbus A320-200 58 22 var.
00
0var.
180165°
180Deliveries: until 2013
180-seat planes operate for Air One S.C.Airbus A321-100 23 0 var. 0 var. 200° Airbus A330-200 7 5 20
280
21255
181275
230Deliveries until 2012 Airbus A350-800 0 12 TBA 287 Deliveries: 2014-2018 Boeing 767-300ER 5 0 20 0 212 232 Being replaced by Airbus A330 until 2013 Boeing 777-200ER 10 0 42 0 249 291 Bombardier CRJ-900 10 0 var. 0 var. 90° Being replaced by E-175 and E-190
Operated by Alitalia CityLinerEmbraer E-170 5 0 var. 0 var. 72° Being replaced by E-175 and E-190
Operated by Alitalia CityLinerEmbraer E-175 1 14 0 0 88 88 Deliveries: October 2011-2012
Operated by Alitalia CityLinerEmbraer E-190 2 3 0 0 100 100 Deliveries until 2012
Operated by Alitalia CityLinerMcDonnell Douglas MD-82 12 0 0
var.0
0164
var.164
141°Being replaced by Airbus A320 until 2013 Total 149 57 °Considering all-economy configuration
Alitalia was in 2010 considering the Russian regional Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft, with a possible order for 20, which would have been a huge boost for Russia's Civil Aviation manufacturers. Alitalia was also however considering ordering Bombardier and/or Embraer 190 aircraft to update its regional fleet. A contest has taken place at Rome Fiumicino Airport to decide what aircraft will be ordered.[34] Alitalia officials have presented a preference for the Embraer, with an imminent order for 20, since they already have 6 aircraft of that type; also, the Superjets wouldn't be available for immediate delivery, as they still need to be certified.[35]
- On 17 March 2009, Alitalia received its first new aircraft since the merger with Air One, the aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 (EI-DTB).
- In May 2009, Alitalia painted one of their Boeing 767-300ER (EI-DBP) in a special SkyTeam livery.
- All Airbus A320 family aircraft have been refitted with new "slim" leather Recaro seats, allowing to add two rows of seats in each case, without affecting legroom. There seems to be PTV installed, but not fully functional yet.[23]
- On 19 July 2010, the Aircraft with registration EI-DSA, which had previously been in the Air One livery, was painted into a special "Alitalia.com" livery.(EI-DSA) [16]
- On 23 February 2011, Alitalia and ENAC announced the introduction of the Safety Card written in braille and characters in 3-D relief, which will be introduced on scheduled flights for the first time in the world.[36]
Historical fleet
Since startup in January 2009, the new Alitalia has also operated the following aircraft types[citation needed]:
- Boeing 737-300
- Boeing 737-400 (aircraft are now in subleasing to other airlines)
Service
Alitalia has four classes of service:[37]
- Classica, the name given to Alitalia's economy class. On short and medium haul flights passengers receive a free drinks and a snack or light meal service, depending on the length of the flight. Personal TV screens for entertainment are present in each seat on some Airbus A320 and A319 planes. On long haul flights passengers receive a free meal service as well as, on most planes, Personal TV screens for entertainment.
- Classica plus is Alitalia's Premium Economy available on some long haul flights. The service is the same as Economy however passengers get some extra benefits such as extra legroom, dedicated check-in desk and higher baggage allowance.
- Ottima, Alitalia's short and medium haul business class, with an improved catering service and baggage allowance compared to Economy, as well as a dedicated check-in desk and acces to the V.I.P. lounges in the airport.
- Magnifica is Alitalia's long haul business class, with special benefits since the recent upgrade:
- New catering (regionally focused, changing monthly and including a new selection of wines and "spumante" changes prepared in cooperation with the Italian Sommelier Association)
- New blankets / duvets / cushions / linens by Frette
- New amenity kits by Bulgari
- New china by Richard Ginori
- New Magnifica Class seats on Alitalia's Airbus A330-200 aircraft deliveries are flat-bed seats which can be seen here. They will also be retrofitted on the 10 B777 aircraft, starting in late 2011.
SkyTeam
The new Alitalia inherited Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane's membership of the SkyTeam alliance. Alitalia-LAI originally joined in 2001.[38]
Alitalia has since opened up code-share agreements with SkyTeam members, allowing passengers to fly to numerous destinations using a single Alitalia ticket.
In July 2010, Alitalia joined leading SkyTeam members Air France, KLM and Delta's Transatlantic Joint Venture, meaning that the profits on flights across the Atlantic are shared between the four airlines.[39]
MilleMiglia
The airline's frequent-flyer programme is named "MilleMiglia" (thousand miles), and is part of the SkyTeam alliance programme, allowing passengers to collect miles and redeem them with free tickets across the whole alliance.
It also grants access to Alitalia's Privilege clubs, Ulisse, Freccia Alata, and finally Freccia Alata Plus, depending on how many miles you have collected in a year, with various advantages depending on the club.[40] These clubs give access to SkyTeam Elite (Ulisse) and SkyTeam Elite+ (Freccia Alata, Freccia Alata plus).
Incidents and accidents
Listed here are incidents since Alitalia's relaunch of operations on 13 January 2009:
- On 17 February 2010, an Alitalia flight from Rome to Cairo, Egypt with 157 passengers, had to make an emergency landing in Cairo after a reported bomb threat. A notable passenger on the flight was Egyptian Tourism Minister Zuheir Garana.[41]
- On 24 April 2011 an attempt was made to hijack Alitalia Flight 329, en-route from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France to Fiumicino Airport, Rome and divert it to Tripoli International Airport, Libya. The hijacker, reported to be an advisor to the Kazakhstan delegation to UNESCO, was subdued by cabin crew and other passengers. He was arrested and taken into custody after the aircraft made a safe landing at Rome.[42]
See also
References
- ^ http://borsaitaliana.it.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idITMIE71O0I020110225
- ^ "Copyright." Alitalia. Retrieved on 9 June 2010.
- ^ "Registred Office." Alitalia. Retrieved on 27 June 2010.
- ^ CAI - integration of Alitalia and Air One
- ^ "Alitalia, Fantozzi accetta l'offerta di Cai: 1.052 milioni". SKY TG 24. 21 November 2008. http://tg24.sky.it/tg24/economia/2008/11/21/Alitalia_Fantozzi_accetta_lofferta_di_Cai_1.052_milioni.html.
- ^ The problems of the old Alitalia LAI + CAI's offers
- ^ "Air France-KLM buys 25% of Alitalia". Financial Times. 12 January 2009. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/776c5c2c-e0ce-11dd-b0e8-000077b07658.html.
- ^ Alitalia passengers 2009
- ^ Alitalia carried 23.4 million passengers in 2010 Retrieved on 11 May 2011.
- ^ Alitalia crew go on 4 hour strike over wages
- ^ Air One plans from Milan Malpensa, 3 million pax by 2012
- ^ Alitalia and Meridiana Fly are in merger talks Bloomberg; retrieved on 12 February 2011.
- ^ The Alitalia "Per tutti è Alitalia" ad uses the slogan "Alitalia vola con te"
- ^ Slogan: Fatti per volare alto
- ^ Alitalia displays the slogan "Alitalia, al lavoro per te" at its Hub, Rome Fiumicino Airport
- ^ a b An Alitalia A320 has been painted into a special livery with the slogan "Muoviamo chi muove l'Italia"
- ^ Alitalia's homepage features the slogan "The pleasure of flying Made in Italy"
- ^ The slogans which were used by Alitalia-LAI in its last years
- ^ "Italian investor group formally takes over Alitalia". AFP. 2008-12-13. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h04l49V4p_EENo-dy36jIflmS6gw.
- ^ Alitalia Financial Report Q1-2 2009
- ^ a b Alitalia expects 270mln loss for 2009
- ^ a b Alitalia 1st Q 2010 results
- ^ a b Alitalia's mid-2010 press release
- ^ a b Alitalia third quarter 2010 results
- ^ a b Press Release for 2010 results (Italian)
- ^ a b Alitalia Q1 2011 results (Italian) Retrieved on 11 May 2011.
- ^ Alitalia - Top domestic airline, third internationally
- ^ Internationally Alitalia is now second only to Ryanair Retrieved on 13 October 2010.
- ^ Alitalia Winter Network Guide
- ^ Mainline Alitalia fleet
- ^ Alitalia cityliner fleet
- ^ Air One Smart Carrier fleet
- ^ Alitalia Express Fleet
- ^ Superjet kicks off Alitalia regional jet contest Retrieved on 7 October 2010.
- ^ Embraer wins in Alitalia's regional jet contest Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ Alitalia and ENAC press release 23 February 2011
- ^ Alitalia's four classes of travel From Alitalia's website. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
- ^ Alitalia originally joined SkyTeam in 2001
- ^ Alitalia join's Air Frane-KLM and Delta's Transatlantic Joint Venture
- ^ Alitalia's Mille Miglia program
- ^ Alitalia flight makes emergency landing due to bomb threat
- ^ Hradecky, Simon (24 April 2011). "Accident: Alitalia A321 enroute on Apr 24th 2011, attempted hijack". Aviation Herald. http://avherald.com/h?article=43b7e3ef&opt=1. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
External links
- Official website (Mobile)
- Alitalia Corporate
- Aviazione Civile: Thread "News flotta Alitalia-CAI" - Italian language - First post continuously updated with fleet composition
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