Italia Trasporto Aereo, trading as ITA Airways, is the flag carrier of Italy and the largest Italian airline by total number of passengers carried, by number of destinations served, and by fleet size. It is owned by the Government of Italy. The airline flies to over 70 scheduled domestic, European, and intercontinental destinations. ITA Airways is a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. Its main hub is Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport near Rome and focus city is Linate Airport near Milan.
Italy’s flag carrier Alitalia had been in operation since 1946. It was owned by the Italian government until 2009, when it became a private company after reorganizing and merging with the bankrupt Italian airline Air One. Alitalia reorganized again in 2015 after receiving an investment from Etihad Airways, with Air France-KLM Group already owning a minority stake. With multiple failed attempts to make the airline profitable, the airline was placed under extraordinary administration in 2017.
After multiple failed negotiations with Delta Air Lines, EasyJet, Italian railway company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, and China Eastern Airlines, the Italian government took ownership of the airline in 2020. The government takeover was due in part to the belief the airline would not be able to survive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its own. In 2020, the Italian government signed a decree to allow the airline to reorganize as Italia Trasporto Aereo.
Source: Wikipedia January 2024