ITA Airways celebrates the Centenary of the Air Force
Ita cancels Milan-New York
The next agreement between Ita Airways and Lufthansa already seems to be producing its first tangible impact for Italian travelers. On January 7, the last direct Ita Airways flight from Milan Malpensa to New York “JFK” will take off. Subsequently, the former Alitalia will renounce this route, leaving around 7,000 passengers who had booked flights from 8 January until November 2024 stranded. These passengers will have the option to obtain a refund of the ticket or, alternatively, to opt for a replacement flight which, however, will have to stop in Rome Fiumicino. This alternative solution is less convenient for travelers from Lombardy, who will lose the only direct connection operated by Ita to the American airport. It was an almost daily flight covering the route Malpensa-New York. Il Giornale writes it.
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Ita Airways carried out this year 694 flights on this route, making a total of 173,500 seats available, corresponding to 13% of the seats offered between Milan and New York, after companies such as Emirates, Delta Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and La Compagnie. Starting from January 8, those wishing to travel with ITA from Milan will have to head towards Linate airport and stop in Fiumicino.
This decision appears to be influenced by the current dispute with Brussels over flight slots. The official notification of the agreement between Ita and Lufthansa should arrive in the next few days, with the Germans ready to enter with 41%, investing 325 million in the first phase of the agreement. The notification was preceded by informal pre-notification discussions between the EU Antitrust and the parties involved (Mef and the German company). The notification was also delayed due to the explicit request by the European Antitrust to give up some slots relating to the transatlantic routes currently owned by Frankfurt and Munich airports.
The decision to interrupt the M routealpensa-New York seems to be motivated only by commercial reasons on the part of Ita Airways, which stated that the route was loss-making due to strong competition and an insufficient support network to support intercontinental flight. Therefore, according to the company, the Malpensa-New York route would represent an exception among intercontinental routes, which are usually profitable. Two years ago, the former CEO Fabio Lazzerini had invested in strengthening the routes to the United Statesstrengthening the Rome-New York route and adding the route between Milan Malpensa and New York.
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