The Chief Commercial Officer of Alitalia, Fabio Maria Lazzerini, has presented in Rimini – in the context of the International Tourism Fair TTG Incontri – the new 2017-2018 winter schedule beginning Sunday 29 October.
New services to Delhi (India) and Male (Maldives), the extension of the Rome-Los Angeles flight and the frequency increase on the Rome-Sao Paulo route in the winter season, in addition to the long-haul services launched in the past two years (to Seoul, Santiago de Chile, Mexico City, Beijing and Havana) show that Alitalia is committed to developing its intercontinental network which is expected to further grow during next summer.
“During summer 2017 we operated regularly and in a reliable manner. This is also proved by the fact the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) restored permanent air carrier operating license for Alitalia”, said Chief Commercial Officer Fabio Maria Lazzerini. “Now we are ready to face the challenges that the upcoming winter season will present with new routes, services, and enhanced digitalization of our offering. Our objective is to encourage tourist flows from abroad to Italy and at the same time to further improve the travel experience for Italian travellers. We are already working to plan the 2018 summer season with new intercontinental flights aiming at connecting Italy to the world and the world to Italy”.
NEW SERVICES AND DIGITAL PLATFORMS. WEBSITE TOTALLY REDESIGNED
Along with the network expansion, Alitalia will continue to develop the services provided to its passengers and improve new digital platforms in order to enhance the travel experience, on board and on the ground.
On the long-haul sector, the Italian airline has recently reintroduced in its business class the Magnifica brand, a much-appreciated brand among Italian and international travellers.
For Magnifica customers, Alitalia provides the most exclusive services: seats that recline to a fully flat bed, the award-winning cuisine inspired by regional Italian dishes accompanied by the best Italian wines, access to Casa Alitalia lounges and other priority services at the airport, WiFi connectivity (available on the majority of long-haul aircraft) which will be offered for free starting from 8 December to both Magnifica and premium economy passengers.
For more demanding travellers, Alitalia provides the new Meet&Greet service in Rome Fiumicino hub which ensures a warm welcome and customized assistance from arrival at the airport through to the departure gate.
For the beginning of 2018, the Airline is planning to release a renewal of the official website alitalia.com and of the Alitalia App which will include a comprehensive review of all web check-in functionalities, flight booking process (from May) and MyAlitalia, a brand-new, dedicated personal area to manage bookings, save boarding passes and customize travel preferences.
Alitalia will also launch Discover Italy, the editorial platform dedicated to the promotion of Italy as a travel destination. Discover Italy will see Alitalia commercial offers integrated with editorial content realized in cooperation with important partners, in order to promote the excellence of some of the most beautiful Italian tourist venues.
Finally, Alitalia will resume advertising activities in main international markets to raise awareness about Italy as a tourist destination par excellence for travellers from every corner of the world, highlighting the idea that travelling with Alitalia means being already in Italy.
WINTER SEASON 2017-2018
The new Rome-Delhi service will be operated every day starting from 29 October, marking the resumption of Alitalia direct flights to India after 9 years of absence. The Rome-Male service, starting from 31 October and operated three times per week, represents the first time Alitalia flies with non-stop thrice-weekly flights to one of the most popular tourist destinations among Italian tour operators during winter. Flights to India and the Maldives will be operated with Airbus 330 in a three-class configuration: Magnifica, premium economy and economy.
In winter, Alitalia will resume service to the Canary Islands with a non-stop bi-weekly Rome-Tenerife service and will continue to operate the Rome-Kiev and Athens-Tel Aviv flights, which were launched last summer.
The Italian airline will offer more connections from Rome Fiumicino to Athens, Barcelona, Nice, Prague, Sofia and Zurich, and from Milan Linate to Amsterdam and Paris Charles De Gaulle.
On the domestic network, during winter the airline will resume direct Torino-Reggio Calabria connections starting from 2 November and will increase frequencies from the Rome Fiumicino hub to Bologna, Catania, Florence, Milan Linate, Naples and Pisa, from Milan Linate to Bari and Naples and from Turin to Naples.
As part of the 2017-2018 winter season, Alitalia will fly to 74 destinations, including 20 in Italy and 54 worldwide, for a total of over 3,300 weekly flights and 97 routes.
And that for a bankrupt airline.