Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) is set to abandon its last two remaining sub-Saharan routes, Accra and Lagos, with effect from Summer 2015. The ItaliaVola flight blog speculates the closure is linked to the carrier's tie-up with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) with Etihad preferring to funnel traffic from Italy to West Africa via its Abu Dhabi International hub.
Lagos attracts a significant amount of premium traffic owing to it being an important destination for petroleum industry executives.
At present, Alitalia operates its Rome Fiumicino to Accra via Lagos service 3x weekly using an A330-200.
