Italian airline Alitalia is ending all flight operations and ticket sales from 15 October.
As Alitalia closes its doors, another one opens with new business Italia Transport Aereo (ITA) set to take over.
ITA has agreed to purchase some of Alitalia’s assets such as aircraft and staff. This is due to Alitalia failing to maintain profits since filing for bankruptcy in 2017.
ITA is owned by the Italian Finance Ministry which has written off the remaining debts and invested about €700m in startup funding.
It will become Italy’s new national airline and operate out of Rome Fiumicino Airport. It will launch much smaller than Alitalia with just 52 aircraft.
There are plans to grow this to 78 aircraft by the end of 2022 and to fly to over 90 destinations.
ITA will mainly focus on European and domestic routes.
It will keep some long-haul routes to the US and Japan, including Miami, Tokyo, and New York. The first tickets will be put on sale from 26 August.
Meanwhile, customers who have purchased flights after October 15 will be given a full refund or a flight voucher.
