“Alitalia vola con te”
(Alitalia flies with you)
Skytrax rating: 3 stars
Skyteam Alliance
Operations
Globally (based in Italy)
- 90 destinations (41 countries)
South Africa
- No flights at present
General
Alitalia is an airline based in Italy, and is the largest airline there. Its name is an Italian compound word meaning “Italian wings”. In its present form it has only been in business for about three years, having been established in 2008 after a takeover of the bankrupt former Alitalia airline, of which the Italian government was the major shareholder. Despite posting a loss of E107 million in 2010, in the first three quarters of 2011 Alitalia has produced a profit of E21 million.
Alitalia has a roughly 50% share of the domestic route market and has been nominated as the most punctual airline in Europe. It has a subsidiary airline – Air One Smart Carrier – which is a regional airline that covers about 25 destinations, some of them on a seasonal basis.
Alitalia makes use of about 150 planes in its fleet, and about a third of them are Airbus A320-200s. Another 56 planes are on order. In 2010 there was a process of assessment of the Russian-built Sukhoi Superjet 100, as opposed to the Bombardier or Embraer 190 aircraft. The deal has yet to be finalised with any of those manufacturers.
Alitalia plane showing the colors of the national flag of Italy.
Alitalia offers four travel classes on its flights. These are:
- Classica – economy class with free light meal or snack and personal TV screen
- Classica plus – premium economy class on some long-haul flights
- Ottima – short and medium-haul business class, with improvements on Classica
- Magnifica – long-haul business class with various creature comforts such as bedding and flat-bed seats, as well as designer china
Alitalia’s frequent flyer program is known as MilleMiglia (“thousand miles”) and miles collected and redeemed on it can be used throughout the Skyteam Alliance.
In addition to its Skyteam partners, Alitalia has code-share agreements with 16 other airlines, including:
airBaltic
Air Italy
Bulgaria Air
Cyprus Airways
Etihad Airways
Kuwait Airways
Malaysia Airlines (future Oneworld member)
Malév Hungarian Airlines (Oneworld member)
TAP Portugal (Star Alliance member)
Ukraine International Airlines
