SimAirline.net - Viewpoint

A new Alitalia, merged with domestic rival Air One, begins flights today. Air One aircraft will eventually be repainted in Alitalia livery and fold into Alitalia's operations. As long expected, Air France-KLM has taken a 25% stake in the new airline for €323 million. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that "Lufthansa has never been present, neither physically nor with an offer."

This is a big transition for us, and we're working hard to make it a smooth one. We'll of course add Air One's aircraft and routes to our operations, although most of the timing will be determined by when those flights appear in the SkyTeam Timetable. We'll also continue to add Alitalia's discontinued routes and retired aircraft.

Here's what Air One brings to Alitalia:
-New Aircraft: A330-200, A350, Avro RJ70, 737-300/400, CRJ-900
-New Destinations: Addis Ababa, Katowice, London City, Madeira, Pescara, Porto, Riga, Rzeszow, Vilnius

Here's the combined fleet and route map, and a summary of the new schedules, a look at what's been cut.

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Alitalia filed for bankruptcy yesterday after decades of financial struggles. The airline will continue operating, although its losses are now at €2 million per day. The company is proposing to split the company in two, cut thousands of jobs, and bring in a foreign airline to take over. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi insists that Alitalia remain in Italian hands (likely meaning a merger with Air One), a condition that led to the collapse of Air France-KLM plans to take over earlier this year.

What does this mean for Alitalia Virtual? Earlier this year I discussed our position, which has not changed: we will continue to offer Alitalia Virtual. To add on to what I said back in March though, the exact form will be decided in the future—it could be the present with Discontinued Flights, or we might opt to revert to a historical version a la Varig Virtual.

Q: Alitalia, Delta, and Virgin have all changed their corporate identities. Will our virtual airlines reflect this change?

A: Yes, all three will be rebranded with the new logos. This is one of the items in our 2008 Development Program, so it will definitely happen in the near future. However, you may be wondering why we haven't done it yet—Delta's rebranding was last April, for instance. We never change immediately for a few reasons:
-rarely is there sufficient material (photos, logos, etc.) available right away
-it takes time for everyone to get accustomed to the new brand
-it takes time to understand how to adapt to the new brand

Alitalia's change was fairly subtle—the livery was revised and the logo italicized. Virgin is establishing a group-wide unified brand, but Virgin Blue still hasn't switched. Delta's change was certainly the biggest. So, to answer your question completely, we always want to reflect our airlines, but it rarely makes sense to do it right away.


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Air France-KLM called off its proposed takeover of Alitalia after failing to reach agreement with Alitalia's unions over the future scale of the airline. Air France-KLM Chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta regretted "the "breakdown in negotiations, which is none of our doing. This is a project I have profoundly believed in and continue to do so, because it would have ensured Alitalia a rapid return to profitable growth."

Alitalia's most recent chairman, Maurizi Prato, a firm backer of the sale, subsequently resigned. The upcoming parliamentary elections in Italy are expected to bring Silvio Berlusconi, who supports an Italian-owned Alitalia, back to power. However, the European Commission has made it clear that the Italian government's proposed €300 million loan to Alitalia would be illegal unless it were part of the Air France-KLM takeover.

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Following the Alitalia Board of Directors' acceptance of Air France-KLM's offer to purchase the struggling Italian airline, you may be wondering what the implications for Alitalia Virtual are. First, let's review what's happened at the Italian airline over the last decade and what we offer today.

Alitalia in the late 1990s had a widespread network with more worldwide destinations than today, using a two-hub intercontinental system centered around Milan Malpensa and Rome (this is part of why KLM dropped its original planned merger with Alitalia). Since then, Alitalia has reduced its longhaul routes and point-to-point domestic routes and added more European routes from Milan and Rome. Today, Milan accounts for most longhaul routes, with flights from Rome to select cities or reduced frequencies.

Air France-KLM's plans to adopt Alitalia's latest route restructuring plan, which involves making Rome the primary hub for the airline, even though northern Italy is one of the richest regions in Europe. The proposed merger still has numerous hurdles to go through: EU approval, union approval, and government approval. The last of these may be the most difficult, since national elections occur next month, and the leading candidate is not in favor of selling Alitalia to a foreign buyer.

What does all of this mean for Alitalia Virtual? As always, we remain committed to offering the Alitalia brand, regardless of what happens in the real world. Fortunately, one of the conditions of the sale has always been that the brand remain in place. You may also be concerned about the flights offered by the reformed carrier should it be downsized. Rest assured that we will continue to offer all destinations possible, even if that means offering them as Discontinued Flights.

SimAirline.net will continue to include a strong Alitalia Virtual in its operations, no matter what form the airline takes in the real world.