As Italy’s national airline, Alitalia,
struggles to get off the ground, the competition is on the tarmac. Lufthansa
has launched Lufthansa Italia, with its main hub in Milan, and the Dubai-based
Emirates Airlines has claimed more landing space on Italian soil.
‘Emirates … has chosen Italy as a hub to access Europe’, said Italian
undersecretary for economic development, Adolfo Urso. ‘Thanks to this agreement,
Italy will more easily become a tourist destination for the newly rich from the
Gulf and from southeast Asia’, he added.
Emirates Airlines has will expand its 10 landing slots per week to 21
slots in Rome, 21 in Milan and 14 in Venice, Urso said. It will also launch 28
cargo flights per week.
Meanwhile, the German carrier has announced that the new Lufthansa
Italia will start flying on February 2, 2009 with flights to Barcelona and
Paris. Flights to Lisbon, London, Brussels, Bucharest and Madrid will take off
in the spring.
Lufthansa spokesman Thomas Jachnow said the new airline would have no
influence on Lufthansa’s position regarding its negotiations with Alitalia to
take a minority stake in the ailing airline.
