Alitalia Airlines

  About Alitalia

Alitalia – Società Aerea Italiana or primarily referred to as Alitalia, is the national flag carrier of Italy. The airline has its headquarters in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The airline's main hub is Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Rome, while its secondary hub is located in Linate Airport in Milan. Alitalia's other focus airports in Italy also include Naples Airport, Milan Malpensa Airport, Catania-Fontanarossa Airport and Palermo Airport. The airline was recorded in 2018 as the twelfth-largest in Europe. Alitalia in Italian is a portmanteau of the words 'ali' for wings and 'Italia' for Italy. Alitalia has not been the best of airlines in terms of raking a profit margin. In fact, it has been a loss-making venture for quite a few years now. In 2017, after formal approval by the government, the airline went into administration. However, the operations of Alitalia has been continued with the same loss-making approach and level of flight activity. Eventually, in 2020, the government of Italy opted to take over all the flight operations and management from Alitalia.

The Italian airline came into existence in 2008 with formal operations starting from 200, following a Compagnia Aerea Italiana consortium that took place to buy out the bankrupt Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane. They further planned to merge the airlines with Air One, another bankrupt Italian carrier. Compagnia Aerea Italiana or CAI placed an offer of €1 billion to acquire a few parts of the bankrupt airline. Further, to accommodate the new Alitalia airline, the consortium took up several labour agreements, offered to administer the operations of Alitalia and receive support from the Italian government from bankruptcy. The consortium even took up the responsibility of taking over some of Alitalia's debt. There were a few controversies that did take place which included the wealthy Berlusconi cronies. Claims of the wealthy individuals trying to take over healthy fragments of Alitalia while leaving the debts to the citizens and taxpayers of Italy were stated. Eventually, the new Alitalia was launched for operations. The same year, the Compagnia Aerea Italiana sold about 25 per cent of their shares to Air France - KLM. Additionally, Air France - KLM also mentioned a clause to purchase more shares of Alitalia in 2013, if need be.

In January 2010, the airline celebrated its first anniversary since the official relaunch. The airline carried about 22 million passengers in the first year of operations. The following year, the airline also carried about 25 million passengers. Since its relaunch though, Alitalia faced its first protest as employees called for a four-hour strike over wage issues. The same year, the word about a possible merger between Alitalia and Meridiana Fly, an Italian carrier. However, the merger did not take place. Trouble didn't seem to end for Alitalia as there were authority issues and lack of slots to cater to domestic routes. In 2014, Etihad Airways, the national flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates, announced that they would be investing in Alitalia and purchasing about 49 per cent of stake. In the same year, Alitalia's subsidiary Air One cased operations over losses. In 2015, the airline's consortium with Compagnia Aerea Italiana was eventually passed on to Alitalia-SAI, a new entity commenced by Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways. Alitalia's Compagnia Aerea Italiana continued to own 51 per cent of stakes.

Alitalia has been under losses ever since it resumed operations with new leadership. There have been several changes in its ownership styles and status. Currently, Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane is one of the shareholders with about 35 per cent stakes. Along with the Italian state railway company, the airline also has the Italian Ministry of Economy and Delta Air Lines as shareholders with 15 per cent and 10 per cent stakes respectively.

Fleet size of Alitalia

Alitalia's current fleet size comprises 91 aircraft which only include Airbus and Boeing. The fleet has about 38 Airbus A320-200s, 22 Airbus A319-100s, 14 Airbus A330-200s, Airbus 321-100s, 11 Boeing 777-200ERs and one Boeing 777-300ER. From 2009 and 2011, the airline refurbished its fleet by adding 34 new aircraft while 26 of the older ones retired. The renewal process concluded in 2013. The new aircraft that have been added to the fleet are not owned by Alitalia but have been leased from Aircraft Purchase Fleet. It is an Irish leasing company that was founded by former Air One owner, Carlo Toto. The company primarily offered flights on lease to purchase the new Alitalia fleet. With the Air One and Alitalia merger, the entire fleet that was leased and the one air One did not lease, was brought under the ownership of Aircraft Purchase Fleet. Except for the two new A330s, the entire fleet is under the Irish registry instead of the Italian registry. Prior to the new fleet, the previous fleet of Alitalia included McDonnell Douglas DC-9s, DC-10s, ATR 42 and ATR 72, to name a few.

Baggage Allowance

Baggage allowance on Alitalia is the standard protocol that a majority of international airlines have set. The checked baggage weight cannot weigh more than 23 kg for economy and premium economy class cabin. Meanwhile, the business class cabin has weight allocations of 32 kg. In case passengers have excess baggage weight, the airline has enabled the purchase of weight. While economy class passengers can carry about one checked baggage, premium economy class and business class baggage allowance has two pieces of bags. The maximum size of the baggage should not exceed 158 cm for checked baggage. Passengers must adhere to the checked baggage dimension rule. In case of excess baggage, the airline has listed out the tariffs that the passenger might have to pay. The prices also vary depending on the destination of the flight.

As for hand luggage, Alitalia's baggage allowance enables passengers to carry not more than 8 kg weighing luggage onboard. The dimension of the hand baggage should not exceed 55 cm x 235 cm x 25 cm. The size and weight of the baggage should be the same as mentioned by the airline. Failing to adhere to the rules of weight and size could lead to the airline rejecting the accommodation of the baggage onboard. The passenger might have to send away the hand baggage as checked baggage instead.

In-flight services

Alitalia provides passengers with world-class in-flight services ranging from special exquisite meals to onboard boutique. The seating configuration, as well as the seat types, are made to cater to the comfort of the passenger. The aircraft in Alitalia's fleet offers great legroom and leg rest facilities as part of its services. There are several other in-flight services of Alitalia that add to its experience. The airline offers in-flight WiFi connectivity for passengers. Depending on the ticket type, passengers can avail the WiFi network services. Meanwhile, the airline also provides personal entertainment decks with engaging and latest content such as movies, TV shows, music, video games and more. The business class facilities on Alitalia airline also provide the passenger with their Ulisse magazine as part of the in-flight entertainment services. Alitalia's onboard boutique offers products from GRIFFAIR that can be purchased. Passengers will receive some discounted rates too.

Popular routes and top cities for Alitalia

As of 2020, Alitalia is known to serve about 97 destinations and operates from the hub Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome as well as four other airports in focus cities of Italy. The airline has been part of the SkyTeam alliance and joined in 2009. There have been codeshare agreements that the airline has with other SkyTeam members to enable passengers to fly to numerous other destinations. Alitalia also joined the bandwagon of the transatlantic joint venture, KLM< Air France and Delta Air Lines enabling profits from the Atlantic flights to be shared between the four dedicated airlines. Alitalia's domestic route connections are extensive as they have flights to destinations such as Bologna, Bolzano, Brindisi, Genoa, Florence, Milan, Palermo, Parma, Pisa, Venice, Turin, Pescara, Olbia and more. The international route network of Alitalia is just as celebrated as it caters to a slew of destinations. As of 2020, Alitalia airlines cater to cities such as Brussels, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Havana, Prague, Cairo, Luxor, Marseille, Paris, Nice, Toulouse, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Athens, Budapest, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Beirut, Luxembourg City, Malta, Casablanca, Saint Petersburg, Madrid, Valencia, Zurich, Geneva, Tunis, London, New York City, Chicago and Washington DC.

Why travel by Alitalia?

Despite being a loss-making venture, Alitalia domestic route connectivity and international route connectivity is recognised worldwide. The airline has cultivated a reputation for itself thanks to being associated with SkyTeam airline alliance. Over the years, the airline has enabled several upgrades even though it has suffered debts and losses. The airline has made its official website as a hub for all kinds of booking activities. Travellers can book an Alitalia flight on their website as well as on any travel portal. Simultaneously, passengers can also do web check-in ahead of their flight, receive an update on the flight status and benefit from the list of Alitalia's flight schedules that have been shared on their website.