Aeroitalia's turns: from the Forli and Ancona cases to the purchase of Air Connect
The airline Aeroitalia announced the acquisition of 93.86% of the Romanian company Air Connect. The latter was established in the summer of 2022 [...]
AeroItalia
The airline Aeroitalia announced the acquisition of 93.86% of the Romanian company Air Connect. The latter was born in the summer of 2022 and has a fleet of only 2 aircraft ATR 72/600.
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At the same time, the Italian carrier began operations in the fall of 2021 and at the time has about 6 aircraft In the fleet: all B737-800s.
But the short history of the two airlines is not exempt from the twists and turns, schedule changes, operational difficulties and various entanglements that are expected to end, today, with the acquisition.
The Aeroitalia-Air Connect relationship
The newly announced acquisition, in fact, is news that has been in the air for some time. Not least because Aeroitalia has been using Air Connect's aircraft since 2022. Both the Romanian-owned ATRs are currently wet-leased by Aeroitalia specifically to operate on domestic short-haul routes.
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The companies have not disclosed the financial details of the transaction.
As early as July, in fact, rumors have been circulating about an acquisition of Air Connect by the Italian carrier led by CEO Gaetano Intrieri. Intrieri & co.'s intentions were to take over the airline to solve the operational problems that affected Air Connect on flights from Forli where the Romanian carrier was operating under wet lease for Aeroitalia's own account.
The relationship between the two companies, therefore, are long-standing and not without problems.
This acquisition, then, seems to be a natural continuation...why continue to pay for the long-term wet lease of the two planes instead of buying the company directly? Also because the relationship between the two vectors owes much to the cases of Forli and Ancona...two airports where Aeroitalia has initiated and discontinued connections, not without controversy.
The Case of Forli and Go To Fly
Last June, in fact, Aeroitalia announced its divorce from theForli airport: the very place where he had begun operating his flights and where he had contributed to the development of Go To Fly-an airline connection service linked to Go To Travel, the tour operator spun off by the very company that manages Forli Airport.
A divorce that the Romagna airport had justified with "theand severe and continuous defaults" encountered by Gaetano Intrieri's company. In the controversy and cross-attacks between Forli and Aeroitalia, it was precisely the ad Intrieri who had questioned the inefficiencies caused by Air Connect.
According to reports in the Adriatic Courier, in fact, Intrieri on Facebook spoke of the break with Forli denouncing an "agonizing project where even the carrier Air Connect, which we had chosen as operator since we don't have small planes in our fleet, has put its own in terms of operational disruption".
"We were even willing to enter the capital of Air Connect in order to manage it directly and solve the operational problems we encountered during operations, as long as we could give the territory a service up to the standard as we are offering to all our passengers around Italy and Europe where we operate our aircraft directly," Intrieri had written.
In essence, then, the Aeroitalia-Air Connect operation. has been intertwined for over a year amid disruptions in service, controversy, and closure of agreements and/or routes.
Flights over Ancona and the Enac alert
Finally, last August, the Italian private airline chose to also focus on Ancona, launching three international routes and winning the bid to operate flights under territorial continuity.
Aeroitalia was the only Italian airline to participate in the tender funded by the Italian government and the Marche Region to operate three routes from Ancona to Milan Linate, Naples and Rome Fiumicino Under territorial continuity.
Flights Have started on October 1, 2023 and will be operated until 2025, and the operational scheme includes the following Two flights a day between Ancona and Rome, one flight per day to Naples and two flights a day round trip (Monday through Friday, one flight a day Saturday and Sunday) to Linate.
In the same hours that the carrier was awarded the tender, Aeroitalia had also announced that flights to Barcelona, Bucharest and Vienna from Ancona. The flights were to be operated by Air Connect's own 68-seat Atr72/600 aircraft.
Last October 30, however, Aeroitalia suspended international flights from the Marche airport, announcing that "due to the failure of Atim (the Marche Region's tourism promotion company) is forced to discontinue flights from Ancona to Bucharest, Vienna and Barcelona as of the November 13, 2023.
At the same time, the carrier guaranteed territorial continuity flights from Ancona to Rome, Naples, and Milan Linate, but gave up on them since the October 1, 2024.
An announcement that outraged Enac, the national civil aviation authority, which has warned Aeroitalia against withdrawing from continuity routes until the notice expires (2025). At the same time, Atim announced the signing of a protocol with Ryanair for tourism promotion (flights funded by the region).
According to the Adriatic Courier, moreover, the chaos generated over Ancona is said to be the result of a failure to reach an agreement between the Marche Region and Aeroitalia, with the former supposedly paying 750 thousand euros in the carrier's coffers. At the same time, the Italian airline is reportedly experiencing a disappointing load factor on domestic routes to and from Ancona.
After a couple of days, however, Aeroitalia retraced its steps and Only the connection between Ancona and Barcelona reconfirmed. The next day came the agreement to acquire Air Connect.
A few weeks ago, finally, Aeroitalia, was at the center of an access debate with Ita Airways. The latter accused Intrieri & co. of plagiarizing the logo and livery of the defunct Alitalia whose brand is still owned by the newco that is supposed to pass to Lufthansa.
What's new in the fleet
Over the past few stormy weeks, however, Aeroitalia, has put in further fleet growth. At six 737-800 aircraft, in fact, two more will be added from early 2024.
The Italian airline, in fact, announced a few days ago that it had signed a contract to lease two additional B737-800s with Air Lease Corporation.
In total they will be, therefore, Eight Boeings in service for Aeroitalia, joined in wet lease (aircraft and crew rental) by a B737/700 from HelloJets, a DHC-8/Q400 from SkyAlps; and Air Connect's two ATRs that will presumably become the property of Aeroitalia.
Commenting on the acquisition of the Romanian airline, in fact, the president of Aeroitalia Marc Bourgade expresses "great satisfaction" and states, "the acquisition finalized today will allow Aeroitalia to strengthen its presence in the Italian regional market and will enhance our feeder capacity to our Rome Fiumicino hub."
No hint, therefore, to operations on Ancona nor on any Romanian adventures, but basically a fleet increase to operate, perhaps territorial continuity or unproductive routes. With the hope of avoiding new controversies, inefficiencies and turnarounds.
