Italian gov't considers another extension for Alitalia bids

ITA Airways takes first A330-900

ITA Airways (AZ, Rome Fiumicino) took delivery of the first of its seventeen A330-900s on May 26, 2023.

EI-HJN (msn 2035) was delivered directly from the Airbus facility at Toulouse Blagnac to Rome Fiumicino. It is the first of ten A330-900s the carrier will take from the manufacturer in addition to a further seven units on due from lessors, including five from Air Lease Corporation and two from AerCap/GECAS, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. EI-HJN is ALC-owned.

The carrier will outfit its A330-900s with 291 passenger seats, including 201 in economy class, 36 in comfort economy, 24 in premium economy, and 30 in business class.

ITA Airways will use the A330-900s to replace its eight A330-200s inherited from Alitalia which are 13.1 years old on average.

The Italian carrier, which is set to be minority-owned by Lufthansa Group, is in the process of renewing and growing its legacy post-Alitalia fleet. It plans to operate seven A220-100s (none delivered...

EU court annuls Italian state aid approval

Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has welcomed a ruling at the General Court, Europe’s second-highest court, on state aid favouring Italian airlines during the Covid-19 pandemic. The court backed the low-cost carrier’s challenge and annulled the European Commission-approved aid.

In October 2020, the EU competition authority allowed Italy to give EUR130 million euros (USD140 million) in subsidies to airlines holding an Italian operating licence. As ch-aviation reported at the time, while the country’s then-flag carrier Alitalia had received EUR199.45 million (USD213.6 million) in Brussels-backed state support in September 2020, three other local carriers, Air Dolomiti, Blue Panorama Airlines, and Neos Air, appealed to the Italian government “to act as quickly as possible” to release the newly-approved EUR130 million.

However, in its May 24 ruling the Luxembourg-based court said that the authority had “failed to provide a statement of reasons for its finding that the measure at issue was not contrary to EU law provisions other than those governing state aid.”

The court explained that “according to settled case-law, a decision not...

Prosecutor probes Montenegro Airlines' would-be Etihad deal

UAE's Etihad Airways to double fleet to 150 aircraft - CEO

Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) aims to "double its fleet to 150 aircraft" enabling it to triple its passenger capacity to 30 million by the end of the decade, Chief Executive Officer Antonoaldo Neves has told Reuters.

This follows a shift in strategy to focus on medium to long-haul destinations, moving away from operating ultra-long-haul flights where competition is intense and profitability challenging, Neves said. The plan is to connect China, Southeast Asia, India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to Europe and the US East Coast.

"Our mandate is very clear. We don't fly to places where we don't make money," he said.

Last October, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ took full control of the airline, appointing Neves who had previously led a turnaround at TAP Air Portugal (TP, Lisbon). The UAE airline wrapped up a five-year turnaround plan and signalled renewed aspirations to become a leading global airline after it scaled back following the impact of Covid-19. At the end of 2021, Etihad had placed its...