Dec. 19—ROME — Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA), the Italian airline set to emerge from the nationalization of Alitalia, has published its business plan for the next five years.
According to the plan, ITA plans to start out with a fleet of 52 planes and will serve 61 routes. It would have a staff of between 5,300 and 5,500 people, half the level of Alitalia.
In the coming year, the company would target routes where it expects traffic to increase again first. More broadly, ITA plans to focus on markets where Italy has close business and tourism ties.
It aims to differentiate itself from low-cost airlines by offering flights at times that suit business and leisure travellers.
The airline could start operations next April, manager Fabio Lazzerini said recently. It would be based in Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate.
ITA said it would invest 2.9 billion euros (3.5 billion dollars), most of which would be spent on the fleet, and 300 million euros for digitalization.
The airline seeks to generate annual revenues of 3.4 billion euros by 2025.
ITA is due to present the plan to the Italian parliament on Monday.
Alitalia, a national symbol, had received several million-euro state loans, alongside 3 billion euros amid the crisis unleashed by the pandemic.
Alitalia last turned a profit in 2002 and has been under state-controlled administration since May 2017.
Attempts to find private buyers for it, also involving talks with Delta and Lufthansa, have foundered.
___
(c)2020 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)
Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
