Despite being one of the most important economies in the world and having an immense tourist industry, Italy has struggled leave its mark on the international aviation stage. The country has continuously struggled to have a carrier that could keep up with its flourishing influx of tourist. Something quite peculiar. Just think of the role Air France has in driving tourists to France. Since Alitalia went out of business the landscape of Italian airlines has varied quite a bit. So let’s take a look at which are Italy’s main Airlines in 2024.
What are the main Italian airlines?
At the moment there are 5 airlines operating with an Italian AOC (Air Operator Certificate). We can easily state that one of these 5 is a major international carrier, while the other 4 have their very own peculiarities we’ll take a closer look at below.
Italy’s Main Airline
Without a doubt the country’s main airline is ITA Airways. This airline took over where Alitalia left off. The day after Alitalia ceased operations the Italian government launched this new airline.
ITA is a full service carrier and is currently 59% owned by the Italian ministry of finance (MEF) and 41% owned by Lufthansa. The German flag carrier also holds the option to buy more shares of the airline to become the majority stake holder.
The new Italian flag carrier operates to North and South America, Asia and Africa.
Italy Leisure Airline
The equivalent Italian equivalent of Condor in Germany is NEOS. The airline is privately owned by the Alpitour tour operator company. This airline, just as other leisure carrier, operates flights to hot holiday destinations from Italy’s main airports.
The airline took advantage of covid to significantly renovate its fleet, introducing the 737 MAX and the Boeing 787-9. Opposite to Alitalia, NEOS has been consistently turning a profit with its flight operations.
Italy’s Low Cost Airline?
This airline we’re talking about in this part of the post is probably the hardest to figure out. Aeroitalia just recently started operations with some leased 737-800. It’s hard to pout a tag on it but it is the closest you can get to an Italian low cost carrier. The airline focuses on operating flights from its main base in Milan Bergamo airpot (BGY) however it also offers a selection of from some other airports such as Rome Fiumicino.
Italy’s 2 Regional Airlines
Italy has 2 regional airlines:
- Air Dolomiti
- SkyAlps
The former is part of the Lufthansa Group and is basically a feeder airline to the German carrier, operating out of it’s hub in Verona. The latter is a very new operator with its hub situated in Bolzano. SkyAlps only started operations in 2021 with a fleet o 4 DHC-8 turboprop planes and currently serves 16 destinations.
