Alitalia successor ITA Airways added two new codeshare partnerships—with the UAE’s Etihad Airways and the Netherlands’ KLM—building on other recent agreements with Air Europa, Air Malta, Air Serbia and TAP Air Portugal.
The ITA-KLM agreement cements the SkyTeam bond between the two airlines. “The partnership will allow KLM customers to book tickets to eight new destinations in Southern Europe,” KLM said.
KLM will place its code on ITA flights beyond Rome Fiumicino (FCO) to the Italian cities of Bari (BRI), Brindisi (BDS), Lamezia Terme (SUF), Palermo (PMO), Reggio Calabria (REG) and Trieste (TRS); to Malta (MLA); and to the Albanian capital Tirana (TIA).
Meanwhile, ITA will gain access to a large number of European destinations, including KLM-served destinations in the UK and Scandinavia.
“It’s really good news that KLM and ITA Airways have been able to reach an agreement so quickly, enabling them to work together on European routes. Italy is an important market,” KLM president and CEO Pieter Elbers said.
Etihad and ITA will see their agreement commence Dec. 14. In particular it will increase connectivity between Abu Dhabi (AUH), Milan Malpensa (MXP) and FCO.
ITA will place its code on services operated by Etihad between Italy (FCO and MXP) and AUH. Etihad will place its code on ITA domestic flights beyond FCO to BRI, BDS, Catania (CTA), Genoa (GOA) and PMO, plus regional European service to MLA.
The partners said the scope of the Etihad-ITA partnership will be expanded to include “even more seamless travel options” over the coming months.
ITA began operating in mid-October, more than four years after Alitalia filed for bankruptcy. ITA plans to fly to 74 destinations with 89 routes by 2025, starting with 44 destinations and 59 routes this year and 58 destinations and 74 routes in 2022.
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