Italy’s newly launched national airline, ITA Airways, is joining the Skyteam alliance, the two parties announced on Friday.
The airline just started flying on 15th October 2021 and is still in the process of ramping up its operations and flight schedule. Skyteam Chairman Walter Cho welcomed “ITA Airways’ decision to join [Skyteam] and ensure continuity of service” for customers flying to and from Italy.
ITA Airways is practically replacing former national airline Alitalia, which ceased operations on 14th October. Although ITA is taking over large parts of its predecessor, the new carrier is overall smaller in size. For example, ITA does not operate the Embraer E-Jets and Boeing 777 airplanes that were part of Alitalia’s fleet for 10 and 19 years, respectively. However, ITA Airways committed to ordering new airplanes and expanding its fleet in the coming years, and announced deals with Airbus and ALC last month.
The Skyteam airline alliance was founded in 2000 and is competing with Oneworld and Star Alliance. Some notable examples among the 19 member airlines include Delta Air Lines, Air France, China Eastern Airlines and Korean Air.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
