Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) and its new alliance with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) should be up and running by January 1 Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Maurizio Lupi, has said.
Having made concessions including relinquishing some traffic slots on its Rome Fiumicino to Belgrade Nikola Tesla route, Lupi told Abu Dhabi's National newspaper that European Commission approval for Etihad's total EUR1.758billion (USD2.357billion) investment into Alitalia is expected on November 17.
Following that, he said, it will require a month “to allow all technical operations to be processed from a legal point of view” following which, the alliance should be operational by January.
The transaction has far reaching consequences as once Etihad's acquisition of a 49% stake in Alitalia is finalized, Air France will waterdown its stake in the ailing Italian carrier to less than 1% Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines CFO Pierre-François Riolacci has said. Despite having cost the Franco-Dutch carrier "a lot of money", Riolacci said Alitalia would remain a lucrative partner in its network. Once a 25% shareholder in Alitalia, Air France's stake diminished after it refused to participate in the carrier's cash call last year.
Among Etihad's plans for the Italian carrier are a greater focus on long-haul routes from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa, a revitalized brand, and a greater focus on Italian tourism and trade promotion.
Initial changes to Alitalia's schedule will begin this year when, as of December 15, Alitalia will inaugurate new daily E175 services to Berlin Tegel and Düsseldorf from Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate and Venice, as part of a far-reaching codeshare agreement with fellow Etihad affiliate, Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel). Alitalia currently offers direct flights from Rome to Munich, and Rome and Milan Linate to Frankfurt International.
From Summer 2015, Alitalia will also begin to offer connections to Abu Dhabi from other Italian cities such as Venice Marco Polo, Catania, and Bologna.
