New Alitalia to reduce EX-YU presence
The new Italian national carrier, known under its working title ITA, has outlined its business strategy up to 2025. If its plans are approved by the European Commission, the company would launch in April or May, although there is no guarantee it will get the green light from Brussels to do so as over 100 objections have been raised. Under its development plan, the airline does not intend on restoring flights to the former Yugoslavia in 2021. Instead, it will make its return to the region in 2022 with services from Rome to Belgrade. Flights to Podgorica, as well as seasonal operations to Dubrovnik and Split, are not planned.
In 2021, the new airline will have a fleet of 52 aircraft, nine of which will be widebodies. In the Euromediterranean region, it plans to serve London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Munich, Zurich, Geneva, Barcelona, Madrid. Algiers, Tunis, Athens, Tirana, Cairo and Tel Aviv from Rome, while next year it will restart operations Valencia, Malaga, Frankfurt, Marseille, Belgrade, Malta and Sofia. At this point, Alitalia continues to sell tickets from Rome to both Belgrade and Podgorica from late March. The European Commission has made a slew of objections to the business plan which will have to be resolved in order for it to approve a three billion euro injection by the Italian government into the new company, among which is that the airline should no longer be called Alitalia. There are also other questions that need to be answered concerning the business model to be adopted by ITA, including how many hubs will be operated, how long it will take for routes to move into profitability and how the fleet will be sourced.
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| ITA's planned Euromediterranean route network development |
Currently, the only flights between Italy and the former Yugoslavia are from Split to Rome, run by Croatia Airlines. Due to stringent entry restrictions, Air Serbia has not operated flights to Italy, where it serves Rome, Milan and Venice from Belgrade, as well as Bologna from Niš, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Overall, Italy is one of its biggest markets. On the other hand, there are also no flights between Podgorica and Rome due to the collapse of Montenegro Airlines, which was the only carrier to serve the two countries besides Alitalia. The Italian carrier suspended its year-round flights from Rome to both Belgrade and Podgorica last March.
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