New Italian carrier ITA Airways has struck a codeshare deal with Spain’s Air Europa, as it continues to fill the gap left after Alitalia ceased flights last month.
ITA – which began operations after Alitalia stopped flights on 15 October – was established as a successor to the Italian flag carrier. It has already confirmed membership of the SkyTeam alliance, the global airline grouping of which Alitalia was a long-standing member.
In sealing a codeshare with Air Europa, it has now inked a co-operation agreement with a SkyTeam partner. ITA will codeshare on Air Europa flights linking Italy and Spain, while the Spanish carrier will add its code to ITA flights between Barcelona, Madrid and Rome, as well as some connecting Italian domestic and international flights.
ITA chief commercial officer Emiliana Limosani says: ”We are pleased to start this commercial agreement with Air Europa which is a very important partner for ITA Airways in Spain a key market for us.
“Our company is going ahead with its strategy to develop commercial agreements with major international airlines, with the aim to provide its customers with an increasingly larger number of destinations, routes and frequencies especially in those markets which present great growth opportunities for the airline.”
While Air Europa is a SkyTeam parter, its long-term alliance strategy is less clear as IAG remains in talks over its possible purchase, albeit that the British Airways and Iberia parent’s chief executive Luis Gallego on 5 November described himself as “less optimistic” of completing the acquisition first agreed before the pandemic.
BA and Iberia are both Oneworld members, while Aer Lingus and Vueling both sit outside one of the global alliances.
