New Alitalia restarts from Fiumicino with few flights and (hopefully) not at a loss

The new Alitalia is now at the starting ribbons, just days away from when the ITA - Italia Trasporto Aereo's business plan will be revealed, but there are more and more rumors and the many rumors only confirm that the restart will be slow and that it will restart with less than half of the aircraft in the fleet currently.

The only surprise, if you want to call it that. the flagship, the only 777er in the fleet, will remain in service. The reason is simple: at a time when cargo is the main source of revenue for airlines, this model is the one that can give the most capacity to the Italian carrier.

This means that AZ will say goodbye to its fleet of A330/200s, which are younger than the 777s in service but have less capacity.

Otherwise, 5 E190s, 40 A319s and A320s will remain in service. Translated: few domestic and international routes. As for the intercontinental network, as expected it will restart only from the crown jewels and only from Fiumicino: New York, Los Angeles, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Tokyo.

So good-bye to all other destinations in the U.S. (Miami, Boston, Chicago, Washington, Toronto, and San Francisco) to all the rest of South America (Havana, Santiago de Chile, Rio De Janeiro) and other routes that were never profitable, such as South Africa, India, and South Korea. Also cut seasonal destinations such as Maldives and Mauritius.

That is, at least until the new 787s arrive. that will supplement and replace the 777s.

It will have to be understood what will happen on Malpensa, no flights are planned from the Varese airport, and whether other companies will try to attack the market by going to fill the spaces left empty by Alitalia. In this case, the company's revival will be even more difficult, but it will all depend on how fast the world returns to travel.

According to the plans of newly appointed CEO Fabio Maria Lazzerini, in 2026 the carrier will Is expected to reach 104 aircraft: Airbus A220 for short/medium range and 787 Dreamliner for the long haul.

The reduction of the fleet will, inevitably, lead to a reduction in frequencies and routes even on short and medium haul, it is a safe bet that the freed routes will be immediately attacked by lowcost airlines that will have redundant planes and personnel to position themselves at the airports abandoned by Alitalia.

It has been confirmed that the new Alitalia will buy logo, name, ticket code (055), the very valuable slots at Heathrow and the Millemiglia loyalty program. The final bureaucratic and authorization steps are missing, and then the new company can finally take flight.

Last but not least still in doubt is the alliance: stay in Skyteam with AirFrance/KLM and Delta or going with Lufthansa in Star Alliance. This is also a strategic decision for the revitalization of the company.

• Millemiglia