Air transport sector strikes will take place in Italy tomorrow (July 26, 2019) between 10AM -2PM local time.

Airlines has mostly canceled flights that were due to take off/arrive during these hours and moved passengers to earlier/later services. You should check your itineraries on all airlines to/from Italy on flights scheduled for Friday.

Here’s announcement from Alitalia:

Due to 4-hour air transport sector strikes confirmed by some Italian unions for Friday 26 July from 10 am to 2 pm, some changes may occur to the Alitalia flight schedule during that day.

The airline was therefore forced to cancel some domestic and international flights scheduled for 26 July from 10 am to 2 pm.

List of cancelled flights is available here.

Alitalia has taken special measures to mitigate customer inconvenience by operating bigger aircraft on domestic and international routes, in order to rebook passengers affected by cancellations onto the first available flights on the same day: 60 per cent of involved travelers will fly on the same 26 July.

Alitalia invites all customers already holding tickets for travels on 26 July from 10 am to 2 pm to check the status of their flights before going to the airport on alitalia.com website, or calling the airline at the toll-free number 800.65.00.55 (within Italy), at +39 06.65649 (from overseas), or contacting the travel agency where the ticket was bought.

Travelers affected by cancellation or schedule change of Alitalia flights on 26 July can rebook their travel at no additional cost or penalty, or ask for a full ticket refund (only if the flight is cancelled or the delay on departure exceeds 5 hours) by 2 August.

Alitalia reminds that Milan Linate airport will stop operations for works on runway from 27 July to 27 October 2019. During this period, Alitalia travelers will be able to fly to and from Milan Malpensa and Bergamo Orio al Serio airports.

Here’s the list of canceled Alitalia flights:

Conclusion

There has been plenty of strike activity as of late in Europe, although the Heathrow strike scheduled for this Friday and Saturday was suspended (read more here).

Remember that airlines are required to provide Duty to Care (meals, accommodation +phone cards) per EC 261/2004 for long delays and rebook affected passengers to their final destinations at the earliest opportunity even when this means moving them to competing airlines.

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Alitalia and their business class unrestricted round trip fares between Seoul and Madrid.

Remember that you can always email me or send me a message via Facebook or Twitter with your airfare-related findings or questions.

Fare Details:

• Fare: Alitalia (AZ) IPRKR SEL to MAD.
• Booking class: I.
• Price: from $1,509 ($1,425 carrier charges + taxes & surcharges).
• Advanced reservation/ticketing: required at least 10 days before departure.
• Minimum stay: until the first Sunday after departure.
• Maximum stay: 1 month.
• Stopovers: 1 free stopover permitted in Italy.
• Transfers: unlimited transfers permitted.
• Travel restrictions: valid for travel commencing on/after 18JUL 19 and on/before 31MAR 20.
• Sales restrictions: tickets must be issued on/before 29AUG 19.
• Cancellations: charge KRW 300,000 for cancel/refund.
• Changes: charge KRW 200,000.

Routing examples:

Price comparison:

Availability:

Booking examples:

This fare can be booked on Priceline:

Accruals:

Fare rules:

Download (DOCX, 31KB)

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Alitalia and their basic season business excursion round trip fares between Miami and Moscow.

Remember that you can always email me or send me a message via Facebook or Twitter with your airfare-related findings or questions.

Fare Details:

• Fare: Alitalia (AZ) IL3X76D1 MIA to MOW.
• Booking class: I.
• Price: from $1,582 ($1,457 carrier charges + taxes & surcharges).
• Seasonal restrictions: permitted 01SEP through 20APR on the outbound transatlantic sector.
• Minimum stay: until the first Sunday after departure.
• Maximum stay: 12 months.
• Stopovers: not permitted.
• Transfers: 6 transfers permitted in each direction.
• Sales restrictions: tickets must be issued on/before 31DEC 19.
• Cancellations: ticket is non-refundable.
• Changes: charge $450.00 for reissue/revalidation.

Routing examples:

Price comparison:

Availability:

Booking examples:

This fare can be booked on Alitalia:

Accruals:

Fare rules:

Download (DOCX, 33KB)

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes Delta/Alitalia and their low/off-peak season business class promotional round trip fares between Paris and New York. This fare allows to be routed via CDG/AMS on Air France/KLM codeshare flights.

Remember you can always email us or send a message via Facebook or Twitter with your airfare-related findings or questions.

Fare Details:

• Fare: Delta Air Lines (DL) ZLP8FR/Alitalia (AZ) ILP8FR PAR to NYC.
• Booking class: Z (DL)/I (AZ).
• Price: from 1,279€ (1,126€ carrier charges + taxes & surcharges).
• Seasonal restrictions: from France – permitted 21NOV 19 through 29NOV 19 or 10DEC 19 through 30DEC 19 or 06APR 20 through 18APR 20 for each transatlantic sector. To France – permitted 26NOV 19 through 04DEC 19 or 23DEC 19 through 09JAN 20 or 06APR 20 through 18APR 20 for each transatlantic sector.
• Advanced reservation/ticketing: required at least 14 days before departure.
• Minimum stay: until the first Sunday after arrival at turnaround.
• Maximum stay: 3 months.
• Stopovers: not permitted.
• Transfers: 2 transfers permitted in each direction free.
• Sales restrictions: tickets must be issued on/before 04NOV 19.
• Cancellations: ticket is non-refundable.
• Changes: not permitted.

Routing examples:

Price comparison:

Availability:

Booking examples:

This fare can be booked on Priceline:

Accruals:

Fare rules:

Download (DOCX, 31KB)

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Alitalia and their premium economy restricted round trip fares between Israel and South Africa. This fare is filed as a premium  economy class fare  but books into business class (probably a fare-table coding mistake). Caution is advised when making travel plans as the airline may not honor it.

Remember you can always email us or send a message via Facebook or Twitter with your airfare-related findings or questions.

In case you missed, you can check our review on Alitalia’s business class product. This fare is being discussed on FlyerTalk (access here).

Fare Details:

• Fare: Alitalia (AZ) ARMWME TLV to JNB.
• Booking class: E.
• Price: from 907€ (810€ carrier charges + taxes & surcharges).
• Minimum stay: 4 days or until the first Sunday after departure.
• Maximum stay: 3 months.
• Stopovers: 1 free stopover permitted in each direction in Italy.
• Transfers: 3 transfers permitted in each direction free.
• Cancellations: charge 200€ for cancel/refund. Cancel not permitted in case of no-show.
• Changes: charge 150€ for reissue/revalidation. Changes not permitted in case of no-show.

Routing examples:

Price comparison:

Availability:

Booking examples:

This fare can be booked on Alitalia:

Accruals:

Fare rules:

Download (DOCX, 38KB)

Italy is facing two strikes on Monday, November 25, 2019, between 1 PM – 5 PM CET that will bring the air travel to a halt.

Air traffic controllers and select employee groups at the airports are striking simultaneously. Alitalia has released a list of canceled flights, and other airlines will likely trim their schedule as well.

You can access Alitalia’s page for strike information here.

Here’s the announcement from Alitalia:

Some Italian trade unions have confirmed for Monday 25 November a 4-hour air traffic controllers strike from 1 pm to 5 pm, as well as a 4-hour strike in the aviation sector at the same times. The airline was therefore forced to cancel some domestic and international flights scheduled for 25 November from 1 pm to 5 pm.

List of cancelled flights is available here.

Alitalia has taken special measures to mitigate customer inconvenience by operating bigger aircraft on domestic and international routes, in order to rebook passengers affected by cancellations onto the first available flights on the same day: 60 per cent of the involved travelers will fly on the same 25 November.

Alitalia invites all customers already holding tickets for travels on 25 November from 1 pm to 5 pm to check the status of their flights before going to the airport on alitalia.com website, or calling the airline at the toll-free number 800.65.00.55 (within Italy), at +39 06.65649 (from overseas), or contacting the travel agency where the ticket was bought.

Travelers affected by cancellation or schedule change of Alitalia flights on 25 November can rebook their travel at no additional cost or penalty, or ask for full ticket refund (only if the flight is cancelled or the delay on departure exceeds 5 hours) by 2 December.

Here are the canceled flights:

Conclusion

It is the strike season in Europe and there is also uncertainly surrounding the parties who are willing ro participate another incarnation of Alitalia after the government has pumped close to 10B euros into it over the past decade.

Passengers that are inconvenienced by this strike can ask operating airline to rebook them to their final destinations if Italy is only the transit point. The duty to care also applies but without delay compensation due to these strikes being beyond the airlines’ control.

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Alitalia and their business unrestricted round trip fares between Seoul and Europe.

Remember that you can always email me or send me a message via Facebook or Twitter with your airfare-related findings or questions.

In case you missed it, check our review on Alitalia’s business class product.

Fare Details:

• Fare: Alitalia (AZ) IPRKR SEL to LON.
• Booking class: I.
• Price: from $1,776 ($1,451 carrier charges + taxes & surcharges).
• Advanced reservation/ticketing: required at least 10 days before departure.
• Minimum stay: until the first Sunday after departure.
• Maximum stay: 1 month.
• Stopovers: 1 free stopover permitted in Italy.
• Transfers: unlimited transfers permitted.
• Travel restrictions: valid for travel commencing on/before 30JUN 20.
• Sales restrictions: tickets must be issued on/before 20DEC 19.
• Cancellations: charge KRW 300,000 for cancel.
• Changes: charge KRW 200,000 for reissue/revalidation. Changes not permitted in case of no-show.

Routing examples:

Price comparison:

Availability:

Booking examples:

This fare can be booked on Flight Network:

Accruals:

Fare Rules:

Download (DOCX, 39KB)

A current Reuters article is spelling out in numbers what everybody has knows for years: Alitalia is a money furnace, losing roughly 2 Million Euros each day.

The data comes from Italy’s Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli who talked to reporters last Thursday after similar comments were made to a government inquiry committee.

Over the years Alitalia pretty much went through hundreds of Millions, if not BIllions of Euro and burned multiple investors along the way that each have lost a fortune, Etihad being the most prominent investor that sank a lot of money into the Italian carrier.

As Reuters reported this weekend the Italian government is now talking figures and has estimated the average daily loss to be close to 2 million Euros.

Alitalia loses as much as 2 million euros ($2 million) a day, Italy’s Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli said on Thursday, clarifying a comment he had made at a parliamentary committee the day before.

The estimate lays bare the challenge facing the airline’s new temporary administrator, who was been appointed earlier this month to cut costs and find a buyer for Alitalia after a consortium of potential rescuers backtracked.

Asked about how much Alitalia was bleeding, the minister said “2 million euros a day” and then added “we are talking about a (daily) loss that fluctuates during the year because the cash-flow is completely different in different periods of the year,” Patuanelli told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

Patuanelli added that it was up to the airline’s new administrator Giuseppe Leogrande to release a final data on the loss for this year.

On Wednesday, speaking at a parliamentary committee, the minister had estimated a loss of nearly 2 million euros a month.

Italian railway group Ferrovie dello Stato has held unsuccessful talks with Delta Air Lines and infrastructure group Atlantia to set up a consortium of investors for Alitalia.

Quiet a discrepancy there between 2 Mio loss a month and 2 Mio per day. How did this happen?

Finding any more external investors for Alitalia is probably worse than finding a needle in a haystack. The reputation of the airline is shot, it’s pretty obvious that this company will never ever be profitable under it’s current management and debt structure.

Alitalia suffers from the typical sickness of a state owned company. High debt, massive pension liabilities, too many employees, permanent threats of strike action by unions and to a certain degree corruption in various forms.

The last effort to get Alitalia under control was in July when John wrote the airline was in talks to be essentially nationalized through local state owned companies. The carrier has been in administration for quite some time but it still operating on full schedule.

Conclusion

With a 2 Million Euro daily loss this translates into 750 Million a year. Throwing more cash at this (especially taxpayer money) is just silly. While it would send shock waves through the country, finally pulling the plug and put the airline out of it’s misery would likely be the most sensible thing. It’s not like Alitalia is the only carrier that could serve Italy’s air transportation requirements, the routes would quickly be absorbed by other airlines.

The carrier currently has ~ 12,000 employees who would be directly affected by a grounding should it eventually come.

Italian air traffic controllers are striking for four hours on Tuesday (January 14, 2020) between 1 PM – 5 PM, resulting in many flight cancellations and retimings.

Alitalia has released a list of flights that it has decided to cancel. You should check if your Alitalia operated flight has been affected. The air traffic controller strike likely affects other airlines too that fly to/from/via Italian airspace.

You can access Alitalia here.

Here’s the announcement from Alitalia:

Some Italian trade unions have confirmed for Tuesday 14 January a 4-hour air traffic controllers strike from 1 pm to 5 pm. The airline was therefore forced to cancel some domestic and international flights scheduled for 14 January from 1 pm to 5 pm.

List of cancelled flights is available here.

Alitalia has taken special measures to mitigate customer inconvenience by operating bigger aircraft on domestic and international routes, in order to rebook passengers affected by cancellations onto the first available flights on the same day: 75 per cent of the involved travelers will fly on the same 14 January.

Travelers affected by cancellations can check on which flight they have been rebooked by connecting at www.alitalia.com and filling in the empty fields ‘First Name’, ‘Last Name’ and ‘Reservation Code’ in the ‘MY FLIGHTS’ section in the home page of the website.

Alitalia invites all customers already holding tickets for travels on 14 January from 1 pm to 5 pm to check the status of their flights before going to the airport on alitalia.com website, or calling the airline at the toll-free number 800.65.00.55 (within Italy), at +39 06.65649 (from overseas), or contacting the travel agency where the ticket was bought.

Travelers affected by cancellation or schedule change of Alitalia flights on 14 January can rebook their travel at no additional cost or penalty, or ask for a full ticket refund (only if the flight is cancelled or the delay on departure exceeds 5 hours) by 21 January.

Here are the canceled flights:

Conclusion

Alitalia is required to rebook affected passengers and to provide duty to care (accommodation, meals, and phone cards in case of long delays) per EC 261/2004. They are not, however, required to provide cash compensation because it is an outside strike that they have no control over.

Readers that are scheduled to fly on Alitalia or other flights touching Italian airspace should monitor their itineraries.

Italian air traffic controllers are striking for 24 hours this Tuesday, February 25, 2020.

This strike significantly affects flights to/from via Italian airports and those using the country’s airspace. Alitalia has canceled 350 scheduled flights for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

You can access Alitalia’s page for flight information here.

Note that this strike doesn’t only affect Alitalia flights. If you are scheduled to fly to or from Italy this Tuesday, you should confirm that the plane is operating.

Here’s the statement from Alitalia:

SPECIAL MEASURES TO MITIGATE CUSTOMER INCONVENIENCE DUE TO 24-HOUR ITALIAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS AND AVIATION SECTOR STRIKES SCHEDULED FOR 25 FEBRUARY 2020

Due to 24-hour Italian air traffic controllers and aviation sector strikes confirmed by some trade unions for Tuesday 25 February, Alitalia was forced to cancel several flights scheduled for that day.

Flights set to operate on 25 February during the peak times between 7 am to 10 am and from 6 pm to 9 pm will operate as scheduled.

List of cancelled flights on 25 February is available here.

As a consequence of the flight cancellations on 25 February due to the 24-hour strikes, Alitalia was also forced to cancel some flights on the late evening of 24 February and on the early morning of 26 February.

List of cancelled flights on 24 and 26 February is available here.

Alitalia has taken special measures to mitigate customer inconvenience by operating bigger aircraft on domestic and international routes, in order to rebook passengers affected by cancellations onto the first available flights on the same day: more than half of the involved travelers will fly on the same 25 February.

Travelers affected by cancellations can check on which flight they have been rebooked by connecting at www.alitalia.com and filling in the empty fields ‘First Name’, ‘Last Name’ and ‘Reservation Code’ in the ‘MY FLIGHTS’ section in the home page of the website.

Alitalia invites all customers already holding tickets for travels on 25 February, as well as on the late evening of 24 February and the early morning of 26 February, to check the status of their flights before going to the airport on alitalia.com website, or calling the airline at the toll-free number 800.65.00.55 (within Italy), at +39 06.65649 (from overseas), or contacting the travel agency where the ticket was bought.

Travelers affected by cancellation or schedule change of Alitalia flights from the late evening of 24 February to the early morning of 26 February can rebook their travel at no additional cost or penalty, or ask for a full ticket refund (only if the flight is cancelled or the delay on departure exceeds 5 hours) by 2 March.

Here are the canceled flights as of today:

Conclusion

Italian air traffic controllers have been on strike quite a few times in the past 12 months. I wish that there would be a resolution to this issue.

Remember that the cash compensation per EC 261/2004 for delays and cancellations doesn’t apply because this is outside of the airlines’ control. They are required, however, to provide duty to care in case of long delays (accommodation, meals, and phone cards).

Airlines are also required to rebook affected passengers to their final destination at the earliest opportunity even if this means booking on competing airlines.

Italy has taken back the control of Alitalia that has been in administration since 2017 after Etihad stopped funding the chronically loss-making airline.

Italian media is reporting that the cost of renationalizing the airline would be 600 million euros, but this is certainly just for the next 12 months considering the burn rate

Here’s an excerpt from Ansa (access their piece here):

Italy needs a flag carrier, Transport Minister Paolo Di Micheli said Tuesday, confirming that Alitalia is to be renationalized.

“This experience (of the coronavirus) teaches us that a national carrier is strategic for the destiny of our country from many different standpoints,” she told Rainews24.

“This experience will confirm to us that we need our flag carrier”

And here’s from the Local (access their piece here)

One of the measures provides for the creation of “a new company wholly controlled by the ministry of economy and finance, or controlled by a company with a majority public stake, including an indirect one” to take over the airline.

Italy’s AGI news agency said the government was setting up an 600-million-euro fund to deal with the damage the pandemic has caused to the aviation sector.

Conclusion

We all know how competent the Italian Treasury has been over the years considering that the government debt stands at roughly 135% of the GDP second highest in the eurozone after Greece

Throwing good money after bad will ensure that billions more will be lost with the renationalized flag carrier and eventually paid by the Italian and/or European taxpayers.

This is now the sixth rescue since the “new” Alitalia was formed back in the late 1990s. The airline has burned more than ten billion euros trying to get its business back to profitability ever since.

Italian flag carrier Alitalia that has lost around €10B in the last two decades and gone through three restructurings with a clean slate in the past decade+ is getting €3B from the government to start anew.

The government is renationalizing the airline, and the goal is not to lose jobs (how this can ever work out). The new Alitalia (new corporate entity) is looking for partners (exit from the SkyTeam in the works?). It plans to focus on long-haul routes (that were money-losing for the current Alitalia).

You can access Alitalia here.

Here’s an excerpt from the Local (access their piece here):

The Italian government announced plans on Thursday to inject at least three billion euros ($3.2 billion) into Alitalia to help save it from collapse in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Economic Development Minister Stefano Patuanelli told the Senate the money was aimed at turning the struggling company into the national airline it had been throughout much of its 74-year history.

“This is not another rescue,” Italian media quoted Patuanelli as saying. “This is the company’s relaunch.”

Conclusion

So, after three restructuring attempts and €10B+ later, the Italian government believes that the best course of action is to renationalize the airline and continue running it like nothing would have ever happened?

The government is already signaling that they don’t want to see any job losses beyond ground handling outsourced, and those employees let go. How could any airline operate profitably under government control when politicians with their interests would essentially run the show?

The problem with Alitalia is that there has always been a belief that the government will bail the entity out. Everything would continue business as usual until three to five years later, the money is again gone, and we are back to square 1.

Not sure why they cannot have a complete restart ala Sabena/Brussels Airlines, Swissair/Swiss International Airlines, and Austrian/Austrian Arrows/Austrian?

Difficult to see anything good coming out of this.

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Alitalia and their midweek business class promotional round trip fares between Barcelona (BCN), Spain to Chicago (ORD), USA.

Remember that you can always email or send us a message via Facebook or Twitter with your airfare-related findings or questions.

In case you missed it!

Flight Review: Alitalia Business Class A330-200 [AZ602 FCO-JFK]

Fare Details:

• Fare: Alitalia (AZ) IX9P9EU BCN to CHI
• Booking class: I.
• Price: from 1,275 € (805 € base fare + taxes & surcharges).
• Day/time restrictions: outbound permitted TUE through THU. Inbound permitted MON through WED.
• Advanced reservation/ticketing: required at least 90 days before departure.
• Minimum stay: until the first SUN after departure.
• Maximum stay: 3 months.
• Stopovers: not permitted.
• Sales restrictions: tickets must be issued on/before 01jun 20.
• Cancellations: charge 400 € for cancel/no-show/refund.
• Changes: charge 300 € for reissue/revalidation:

Routing examples:

Price comparison:

Availability:

Booking examples:

This fare can be booked on Alitalia:

Accruals:

Fare rules:

Download (DOCX, 36KB)

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Alitalia and their midweek business class promotional round trip fares between Barcelona (BCN), Spain to New York (JFK), USA.

Remember that you can always email or send us a message via Facebook or Twitter with your airfare-related findings or questions.

In case you missed it!

Flight Review: Alitalia Business Class A330-200 [AZ602 FCO-JFK]

Fare Details:

• Fare: Alitalia (AZ) IX9P9EU BCN to CHI
• Booking class: I.
• Price: from 1,275 € (805 € base fare + taxes & surcharges).
• Day/time restrictions: outbound permitted TUE through THU. Inbound permitted MON through WED.
• Advanced reservation/ticketing: required at least 90 days before departure.
• Minimum stay: until the first SUN after departure.
• Maximum stay: 3 months.
• Stopovers: not permitted.
• Sales restrictions: tickets must be issued on/before 01jun 20.
• Cancellations: charge 400 € for cancel/no-show/refund.
• Changes: charge 300 € for reissue/revalidation.

Routing examples:

Price comparison:

Availability:

Booking examples:

This fare can be booked on Alitalia:

Accruals:

Fare rules:

Download (DOCX, 36KB)

Alitalia, an Italian flag carrier that has lost more than 10B euros since 2000s, has launched a miles sale that is valid through June 30, 2020.

MilleMiglia members can buy miles with a 70% bonus and 20% off. The sale continues in July with a lower purchase bonus.

You can access Alitalia’s page for buying miles here.

Here are the bonus & discount tables:

Price

The price of an Alitalia MilleMiglia miles under this sale is 1.18 euro cents each.

Conclusion

I am not brave enough to buy Alitalia miles due to frequent expiry of them (by law in Italy apparently) and uncertainty surrounding the airline. If you know the ins and outs of their program and can use the miles for premium redemption at a reasonable rate, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy (this is the case with all points and miles sales).

Here are the terms and conditions of this purchase:

GST/HST applies to purchases by Canadian residents. A maximum of 70,000 miles can be purchased or received in a single calendar year. Bonus Miles will be rewarded on transactions made between 16 June and 31 July 2020 23:59 CEST and will be credited to the recipient’s account when the transaction is complete. The miles purchased by Members are the first to be used in order to issue an Award ticket, therefore they will not be refunded in case the Award ticket has been already issued. The member purchasing or gifting miles has the right to cancel any purchase or gift (if those miles haven’t been used for an Award ticket yet) without penalty and without specifying the reason, within ten (10) working days from the day the transaction was confirmed by Points.com by email. Any request to cancel a purchase or gift shall be communicated to Alitalia by email at buymiles.support@alitalia.it. If the right to cancel is exercised according to the above-mentioned procedures and deadlines the purchaser will be reimbursed the sums already paid. Refunds will be made in the shortest possible time and in any event within thirty (30) days from the date on which Alitalia has received the notice of cancellation. If the member does not comply with the procedures and terms for exercising the right to cancel as specified in this section, the purchaser shall not be entitled to any refund. (note: purchased miles can be only redeemed on award tickets, NO USE for CASH&MILES, ANCILLARY SERVICES or GALLERY ONLINE CATALOG) Miles purchased through the Buy Miles program do not count towards MilleMiglia status upgrades. All other MilleMiglia Terms and Conditions apply

There has been news from Italy over the past month about the third reboot in the past 10+ years of the country’s flagship airline – Alitalia.

The country has already spent more than 10 billion euros in the previous bankruptcies and will throw in another three to get ITA – Italia Trasporto Aereo off the ground. The Alitalia name is supposedly retired, and the membership in the SkyTeam is uncertain.

You can access Alitalia here.

Here’s an excerpt from Il Messaggero:

For now it is called Italy Air Transport ( ITA ) and part under the control of the State, but it will open the share capital “to institutional, financial and industrial investors”. When Newco buys planes and employees, it will also be able to take over the Alitalia brand and be called Alitalia ITA. The new company, which will have an initial capital of 20 million and will reach 3 billion within a few weeks, “is authorized to purchase and rent, also by direct negotiation, company branches of companies holding airline licenses issued by ‘ Enac, even in extraordinary administration ». It could therefore save Air Italy. And «it will be able to develop synergies and alliances with other Italian and non-Italian public and private entities». It can be divided into subsidiaries in maintenance and services.

Conclusion

You would think that the Italian government would have learned by now that they are not very good at trying to run an airline? You could understand trying to reboot it once but now for the third time?

The government is already “fighting” with the EU regarding the previous reboot and loans extended to the airline. States in Europe are not supposed to prop up failing businesses distorting competition.

Ryanair, EasyJet, and Wizz now all operate domestic routes within Italy, and undoubtedly their cost base is lower than that of Alitalia or ITA. A high-speed rail is also a viable option between population centers within the country.

Air Italy, the former Meridiana that partnered with Qatar Airways, ended its operations this spring. The owners decided that there was no way to turn the business around despite their lofty medium/long-term goal of forming a new global airline.

I am sure that nobody would like to see a well-established airline to collapse, I am no different, but at some point, you have to conclude that there is no business case to keep throwing billion+ euros every year to keep the “flagship” airline flying that most Italians don’t use.

It isn’t easy to see Alitalia or ITA (Italia Trasporto Aereo) return to profitability. I am sure that the newco is happy to burn the 3 billion euros, but what in max three years?

Alitalia has this week informed its MilleMiglia tier members about status extension through March 31, 2022.

Alitalia is one of the last of the major airlines to announce this extension that has become the industry standard.

You can access Alitalia here.

Here’s a copy of the email that a reader forwarded to us:

Google translate:

We know that this year you have not been able to fully utilize the benefits that the Freccia Alata Club reserves for you. For this reason we have paid special attention to you.

Your membership in the Freccia Alata Club has been extended until March 31, 2022 to allow you to benefit from all the exclusive benefits • that your Club has reserve.

Our systems are being updated: your new Freccia Alata Card. expiring on 31 March 2022 will be available in digital format on the Alitalia App within 15 days.

Alitalia and the MilleMiglia Program continue to work to always guarantee a safe and comfortable travel experience.

See you soon for a new welcome aboard!

Conclusion

It is interesting to see what airline and hotel programs will offer in 2021 regarding status qualification and possible extensions for another year. Hilton Honors this past week announced their lowered status qualifications.

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Delta and their business class excursion non-refundable round trip fares between New York (JFK), USA and Cairo (CAI), Egypt, bookable on Air France or Alitalia codeshares.

Remember to email or message us via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with your airfare-related questions or discoveries!

Fare Details:

Travel restrictions:
Available until end of service (no travel end date).
Sales restrictions:
Tickets must be issued on/before 02DEC 20.

• Fare: Delta (DL) ZN3L76D6 NYC to CAI.
• Booking class: Z.
• Price: from $2,398 ($1,340 base fare + taxes & surcharges).
• Advanced reservation/ticketing: required at least 7 days before departure.
• Minimum stay: until the first Sunday after arrival at turnaround.
• Maximum stay: 12 months.
• Stopovers: not permitted.
• Cancellations: ticket is non-refundable.
• Changes: changes permitted.
• Airline’s COVID19 policy: access here.

Access here IATA’s COVID-19 Travel Regulations interactive Map for the most up-to-date information on entry requirements/quarantine rules for any destination you’re planning to visit.

Routing examples:

Price comparison:

Booking examples:

This fare can be booked on Expedia:

Accruals:

Fare rules:

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Alitalia and Delta have teamed up with Rome’s airport and will start offering quarantine free flights between Atlanta (ATL) and Fiumicino (FCO) airports that require three covid tests.

Passengers that take one of the flights and test negative can forgo the mandatory quarantine in Italy for US arrivals. Passengers, however, must meet the Schengen entry requirements.

You can access Delta here and Alitalia here.

Here are all the tests required:

• A COVID Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken up to 72 hours before departure
• A rapid test administered at the airport in Atlanta before boarding
• A rapid test on arrival in Rome-Fiumicino
• A rapid test at Rome-Fiumicino before departure to the United States

Here’s the announcement from Delta:

Delta Air Lines, the Aeroporti di Roma and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have joined in a first-of-its-kind trans-Atlantic COVID-19 testing program that will enable quarantine-free entry into Italy, in accordance with a decree expected to be issued soon by the government of Italy.

“Carefully designed COVID-19 testing protocols are the best path for resuming international travel safely and without quarantine until vaccinations are widely in place,” said Steve Sear, Delta President – International and Executive Vice President – Global Sales. “Safety is our core promise – it’s at the center of this pioneering testing effort and it’s the foundation of our standards for cleanliness and hygiene to help customers feel confident when they fly Delta.”

Delta has engaged expert advisors from Mayo Clinic, a global leader in serious and complex healthcare, to review and assess the customer-testing protocols needed for Delta to execute a COVID-tested flight program.

“Based on the modeling we have conducted, when testing protocols are combined with multiple layers of protection, including mask requirements, proper social distancing and environmental cleaning, we can predict that the risk of COVID-19 infection – on a flight that is 60 percent full – should be nearly one in a million,” said Henry Ting, M.D., M.B.A., Chief Value Officer, Mayo Clinic.

Delta has also worked closely with the Georgia Department of Public Health to develop a blueprint for governments to reopen important international travel markets.

“The State of Georgia and the Italian government have demonstrated leadership in testing protocols and practices that can safely reopen international travel without quarantine requirements,” Sear added.

Starting Dec. 19, Delta’s dedicated trial will test customers and crew on newly relaunched flights from Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Rome-Fiumicino International Airport. The tests will exempt from quarantine on arrival in Italy all U.S. citizens permitted to travel to Italy for essential reasons, such as for work, health and education, as well as all European Union and Italian citizens.

To fly on Delta’s COVID-tested flights between Atlanta and Rome, customers will need to test negative for COVID-19 through:

• A COVID Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken up to 72 hours before departure
• A rapid test administered at the airport in Atlanta before boarding
• A rapid test on arrival in Rome-Fiumicino
• A rapid test at Rome-Fiumicino before departure to the United States

Customers also will be asked to provide information upon entry into the U.S. to support CDC contact-tracing protocols.

Aeroporti di Roma earlier this year implemented a successful intra-Italy COVID-tested flight trial with Delta’s Italian codeshare partner Alitalia and is the only airport in the world to have obtained the maximum five-star rating from Skytrax on its anti-COVID health protocols. Rome-Fiumicino Airport serves over 40 million passengers a year and has been rated Europe’s Best Hub Airport for a third year in a row by Airports Council International.

Conclusion

There are few problems with this approach, as the Emirates flight case where 5% of the passengers got infected (read more here) well illustrates.

None of these tests will catch people who get infected just before the flight. It does, however, eliminate the majority of possible Covid-19 positive passengers. There is also an issue with the rapid tests and the number of false positives and negatives produced.

However, it is good that airlines try different approaches to safely jump-start the important trans-Atlantic air travel without quarantine requirements at either or both ends.

The post Alitalia & Delta To Launch Quarantine Free Flights With Three Covid Tests Between Atlanta - Rome first appeared on LoyaltyLobby.

Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Alitalia and their business class excursion non-refundable round trip fares between New York (JFK), USA and Venice (VCE), Italy.

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Fare Details:

Travel restrictions: Valid for travel commencing on/before 11MAR 21.
Sales restrictions:  Reservations must be made on/before 23DEC 20.

• Fare: Alitalia (AZ) IN5X33D1 VCE to NYC.
• Booking class: I.
• Price: from $1,729 ($200 base fare + taxes & surcharges).
• Day/time restrictions: -/-
• Advanced reservation/ticketing restrictions: reservations required at least 3 days before departure.
• Minimum stay: 3 days.
• Maximum stay: 12 months.
• Stopovers: not permitted.
• Cancellations: ticket is non-refundable.
• Changes: changes not permitted in case of no-show.
• Airline’s COVID19 policy: access here.

Access here IATA’s COVID-19 Travel Regulations interactive Map for the most up-to-date information on entry requirements/quarantine rules for any destination you’re planning to visit.

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