Here’s the first decision of the newly Lufthansa Group lead ITA Airways. The first move clearly moves the Italian flag carrier closer to Lufthansa and the Star Alliance universe. The news is that ITA has signed a codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines. In this post we’ll be looking a little closer at the details of the agreement and why it moves ITA closer to Lufthansa.
The Details of the ITA Airways Turkish Airlines Codeshare Agreement
Let’s kick things of looking into the details of this new codeshare agreement between the two airlines. What will happen is the following:
- Turkish Airlines flights between Rome Fiumicino (FCO) and Istanbul (IST) will also have an ITA Airways (AZ) flight number.
- A selection of domestic ITA destinations from Rome Fiumicino (FCO) will also have a Turkish Airlines (TK) flight number. Specifically the destinations are:
- Brindisi
- Bari
- Catania
- Firenze
- Genova
- Palermo
- Lamezia Terme
- Torino
- Trieste
You might be asking yourself: why aren’t Milan, Venice and Bologna included in the agreement? Simply because those 3 major destinations are already part of Turkish Airlines’ route network. The routes included in the agreement are secondary airports where it wouldn’t make sense for TK to start their own flights. It makes more sense for the Turkish flag carrier to rely on a partner such as ITA that offers onwards connectivity to passengers.
What Are The Advantages For The 2 Airlines?
As I just mentioned above, what the deal brings to the table for Turkish Airlines is the possibility of selling in a single booking flights to secondary destinations in Italy. TK passengers will be able to have a seamless travel experience from anywhere in the network to tourist destinations in Italy.
On ITA Airways’ side, they will be able to sell on their own sales channels flights to Istanbul. The Italian airline at the moment doesn’t have Istanbul in its network and this deal enriches the carrier’s offering to its passengers.
Why Does The Agreement Move ITA Closer to Lufthansa?
Turkish airlines is a Star Alliance member. For the non avgeeks, Lufthansa is a founding member of this airline alliance. So you might interpret this move as a step closer to Lufthansa and Star Alliance, while still being a member in Skyteam at least until next year.
