Italian airline Alitalia liquidated due to bankruptcy

Italian air carrier Alitalia has been liquidated due to bankruptcy and the company has been reorganized into Italia Transport Aereo (ITA), according to Corriere and Il Giorno.

The company was founded over 76 years ago on May 5, 1957. For the past four years, Alitalia has experienced financial difficulties, an emergency management regime has been introduced, and the Italian government has provided it with loans totaling € 1.3 billion, Corriere points out. The publication writes that ITA will “inherit” a fleet of 52 aircraft, flight codes, brand and uniforms from Alitalia. However, the number of employees will be reduced from 10.5 thousand to 2.8 thousand.

The first flight of the new airline is already scheduled for October 15. “Farewell, dear old Alitalia <...> Tomorrow, the first flight of the new ITA company will land in Bari and we will wait for him there,” the Apulian airport said in a statement.

In early October, the Accounts Chamber reported that state support for Russian airlines cost the budget 591 million rubles. In 2019, the volume of state aid provided to air carriers amounted to 207 million rubles.