Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) has announced the introduction of ten new seasonal routes to be operated out of Milan Linate this summer. According to Airline Route, during the month of August this year, the carrier will offer flights from the Milanese airport to Bordeaux Mérignac, Dubrovnik, Kerkyra, Ibiza, Menorca Mahón, Mykonos, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes, Split, and Thira Santorini using a mixture of A319-100, A320-200, and E175 equipment.

The decision to enhance operations at the secondary Milanese airport is part of the Alitalia's three-hub strategy developed in partnership with 49% equity partner Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International).

In it, Alitalia will increase Milan Linate's connectivity with partner airline hubs while increasing long-haul services out of Milan Malpensa to Abu Dhabi International, Shanghai Pudong, and Tokyo Narita. In preparation for the move, Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel) switched its Milan operations from Malpensa to Linate in October last year.

Alitalia's home base, Rome Fiumicino, will focus on expanding its international footprint with the launch of new routes to Berlin Tegel, Düsseldorf, San Francisco, México City International, Santiago de Chile, Beijing Capital, and Seoul Incheon this year.

"Rome Fiumicino will emerge as a larger European intercontinental hub, with up to five new routes over the next four years, while long-haul flights from Milan Malpensa will more than double to 25 flights a week by 2018," Etihad said.

Fiumicino will also continue to expand its 'short and medium haul flying to maintain relevance to the Italian market.'

In line with the change in strategy, Alitalia's widebody fleet will be increased by 32% with the Italian carrier to have possible access to Etihad's substantial Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and Boeing (BOE, Washington National) order books. Alitalia's narrow-body fleet, however, is to be cut by 13% with fourteen A320-200s already destined for Air Berlin.

Etihad is also looking to relaunch and expand Alitalia's defunct freight subsidiary, Alitalia Cargo, in order to exploit Italy's position as Europe's third largest cargo market. Along with the establishment of a centre of excellence in Northern Italy, investment will also be made into upgrading handling capabilities at Italian airports while establishing an integrated cargo network.