Alitalia Signs Agreement with Etihad

Abu Dhabi - Alitalia’s CEO, Gabriele Del Torchio, and Etihad’s CEO, James Hogan, have signed the contract for an agreement between the two companies. The agreement is subject to approval by European authorities.

“We have finally done it after a year of hard work with many struggles, and so many long nights.” Those were Del Torchio’s comments on the recently signed agreement with Etihad.

Etihad’s investment in Alitalia will be €1.758 billion for the restructuring of the Italian company. The CEO of the United Arab Emirates company, James Hogan, announced the agreement at a press conference.

The business plan calls for new routes, the development of Rome’s Fiumicino airport and an increase in the services operating from Venice and Milan’s Malpensa. Seven new international destinations will be served between 2015 and 2018 including Pechino, Shanghai, Mexico City, Seoul, San Francisco, and Santiago, Chile.

There will be more flights to New York, Chicago and Rio de Janeiro. There will be direct flights to Abu Dhabi from Venice, Catania and Bologna, besides those from Rome and Milan.

By 2018, 105 destinations will be served (26 national,61 international, & 18 intercontinental destinations) with an expected total of over 2 3 million passengers carried.

The plan is to acquire seven new long range aeroplanes to keep up with the company’s intercontinental development. The business plan also calls for the repositioning of the Alitalia brand through the development of its “premium” service and aims to develop its cargo operations, concentrating these activities on the Malpensa airport, through a re-launching of the Alitalia Cargo brand. Expected profits in 2023 are €212 million with a turnover of just under €4.5 billion.