The day of the debut has been set. Ita's first flights will take off on 15 October. After months of negotiations, an agreement has finally been reached agreement between Italy and the European Commission on Ita (acronym of Italy air transport), the company that will take the place of Alitalia, sanctioning a total discontinuity with the past and above all with the enormous difficulties experienced in recent years by the former national airline. But the news of the day didn't end there, given that in the early afternoon the company approved the business plan to 2025.
THE AGREEMENT WITH BRUSSELS
“With Ita, a new important Italian airline is born, with significant development prospects and that it will be able to compete on the national and international market”, comments the Minister of Infrastructure Enrico Giovannini. Not surprisingly, the intervention package provides for a reduction in costs, slots, but also in the number of aircraft belonging to the fleet.
The agreement with Brussels makes it possible to start the procedures relating tocapital increase of Ita, for which the Treasury has already allocated 3 billion in the budget, and creates the conditions for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the transfer of certain activities from Alitalia to Ita. "With the start of operations of Ita - underlines the Ministry of Economy - the foundations are being laid for a new national carrier for air transport solid, sustainable and independent, able to operate in the sign of discontinuity and with solid prospects for growth and development".
The Ministry of Economic Development will have the task of supervising “all passages a protect workers and consumers", reads the note from the Mise which ensures "the maximum commitment to support the birth of ITA on schedule". In the same note, the ministry stresses that it has complied with all the rules issued in the last year, recalling that travelers who have purchased Alitalia tickets for flights after October 15 will be "protected" and that Alitalia workers who "could be hired in the new company they are 2800 in 2021 and 5750 in 2022".
“The European Commission takes note of Italy's announcement today that ITA, a new state-owned airline, has been launched and will start flying on 15 October 2021 and that Alitalia will cease operating as an airline on 15 October 2021”. This was reported by an EU spokesman underlining that Brussels "remains in close contact with the Italian authorities to ensure that the launch of Ita as a new and vital market player is in line with EU state aid rules”. The announcement, he adds, is the result of the agreement reached in May on the “key parameters for the economic discontinuity between Italy and Alitalia”.
THE NEW INDUSTRIAL PLAN
In the same hours in which the Mef announced the agreement with Brussels, the board of directors of the company approved the new business plan to 2025, which is also essential to allow the shareholders to give the green light to the expected capital increase of 700 million.
In terms of employment, the ITA company will start operations with around 2.750-2950 employees, and then rise to 5.550-5.700 employees in 2025. From a financial point of view, the plan envisages a turnover of 3,3 billion in 2025, with an economic result of 209 million euros and an operating breakeven which will be achieved by the third quarter of 2023.
The plan, underlines the company in a note, has implemented all the elements of discontinuity requested by Brussels. According to the provisions, ITA will be able to acquire the assets necessary to manage the flight sector ('Aviation') through direct negotiation with Alitalia, while the Alitalia brand will be sold through a public tender, launched and managed by Alitalia itself, in which ITA will participate. The activities included in the 'Ground Handling' sector will be sold through a public tender, as will those included in the 'Maintenance' sector. Ita will have the right to participate in both. Until these two tenders are awarded, Alitalia will be able to provide handling and maintenance services to Ita through supply contracts. The note adds that, should ITA be awarded the tenders announced by Alitalia relating to Ground Handling and Maintenance activities, at the end of the plan the use of up to 2.650-2.700 resources for the Ground Handling part and 1.100-1.250 resources in the maintenance area.
SLOTS, FLIGHTS AND DESTINATIONS
From an operational point of view, the plan establishes that Ita will keep 85% of the slots currently held by Alitalia at Milan Linate airport and 43% of the slots at Rome Fiumicino. Speaking of destinations, at the start of business the new company will serve 45 destinations with 61 routes which will then rise to 74 destinations and 89 routes in 2025. On the long-haul network, connections with New York will be guaranteed in 2021 (from Rome and Milan ), Tokyo Haneda, Boston and Miami (all three from Rome), while new flights to Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Washington and Los Angeles will be launched from summer 2022. On the short and medium-haul network, ITA plans to operate connections from Fiumicino and Linate with the main European destinations at the start, to which other international routes served from Rome will be added (including, for example, those to Madrid, Athens Tel Aviv, Cairo , Tunis and Algiers). Finally, as regards internal flights, ITA will cover 21 national airports with different flights and daily schedules.
