«The operation with Lufthansa is defined»- Corriere.it

The negotiation between the Treasury and Lufthansa is in the finishing straight and is now focusing on the details of the agreement. «The structure of the operation with the Germans is defined», comments the president of the tricolor carrier Antonino Turicchi answering a question from the Courier. “Then the fact that someone wants to change it by a comma is part of a negotiation”, he added speaking on the sidelines of the event at Rome Fiumicino airport in which the airline presented the new Airbus A320neo, the new lounge, the official introduction of the uniforms.

The file

Turicchi was called last autumn by Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti to manage the privatization in the utmost secrecy and also as quickly as possible. “The process with Lufthansa has begun,” he added when speaking to journalists. And to those who asked him if the dossier would be closed on April 24 – the last day of the exclusive negotiations with the Germans – the president replied: “There is a bridge for the April 25 party”. After the agreement, the dossier will be sent to Brussels for final assessments by the EU Antitrust. In Rome they want a sort of fast track to get the go ahead as soon as possible.

The first quarter

Turicchi’s words come in the days in which Ita Airways officially closes the first quarter of this year with approximately 379 million euros in revenues and 2.9 million passengers. Numbers in recovery compared to the same period of 2022, marked by the tail end of the pandemic wave and the war in Ukraine. In the second quarter – which also includes the Easter holidays – the company’s projections speak of revenues of 500 million euros, to rise to 2.5 billion in the twelve months of the year, of which 2.2 billion from passenger transport.

On board the aircraft

At Rome Fiumicino – the Ita hub – the carrier’s managing director Fabio Lazzerini presented the new aircraft that has entered the fleet, the Airbus A320neo, which will be used for short and medium-haul, national and international flights. “This is the first aircraft really designed entirely by Ita”, comments Lazzerini on board, recalling that thanks to its engines it consumes less fuel and causes less noise than similar and previous models. The aircraft was named after the ice skater Carolina Kostner. Also present were the Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè, the undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Maria Tripodi, the undersecretary of the Mef Federico Freni and the CEO of Aeroporti di Roma Marco Troncone and the president of ENAC Pierluigi Di Palma.

The performance

Lazzerini also recalled the cash flow, which went from 424 million at the end of 2022 to 402 million at the end of March 2023, a loss contained by “attention to costs”, by “very high revenues” and by operations to protect against expensive fuel (fuel hedging). In the first three months of this year, the average occupancy rate of Ita’s aircraft was 74%, says Lazzerini. Separating the figure gives a filling of 65.8% on domestic flights, 73% on international ones and 77% on intercontinental ones.

The new lounge

The new Ita lounge was also inaugurated at the Fiumicino terminal, the “Hangar” dedicated to passengers flying in premium classes or who are at the top levels of loyalty programs. At the entrance there is an installation of 72 blue cloches with videos of the destinations. At the same event, the new “Spring” menu was also presented, produced and signed by the starred chef Gian Piero Vivalda of the “Antica Corona Reale” on board Italian intercontinental flights. Flights that this year will see the addition of San Francisco and Rio de Janeiro.