Alitalia, Italy’s national airline, and SAVE presented in Venice the development plans of Alitalia Group at the Venice Marco Polo Airport. This airport will provide the start-up of a new direct connection between Venice and Tokyo beginning next summer in 2014. It was also confirmed that Venice will remain one of the four bases of Air One, the Smart Carrier of Alitalia Group, in the new Strategic Plan for 2013 -2016.
“Today we are announcing with satisfaction that owing to the new direct flight, Venice – Tokyo, Marco Polo Airport becomes the third intercontinental airport of Alitalia in Italy. Venice reconfirms itself as a gateway to the East, further strengthening Alitalia’s partnership with SAVE and in the Industrial Plan of Alitalia Group, Venice and the Northeast maintain a crucial role,” stated Gabriele Del Torchio, the newly-elected CEO of Alitalia at the press conference. He added: “Alitalia Group’s efforts and commitment are all directed to a single objective – to strengthen the confidence of passengers departing from Venice, and providing to the travelers of the Italian Northeast region of Italy a new direct connection to Japan and new international flights by the Smart Carrier as the best solution to respond … to the mobility needs of this area for tourism and local entrepreneurship.”
The Alitalia Group’s Strategic Plan for 2013-2016 reaffirms the important role of Venice in the Alitalia Group network, with Marco Polo Airport confirmed as the basis of Air One, with the ports of Catani, Palermo, and Pisa remaining at the main hub of the Northeast for Alitalia flights.
In the winter season of 2013-2014, two Air One Airbus A320s will connect at Marco Polo Venice Airport to eight domestic and international destinations: Bari, Catania, Naples, Palermo, Lamezia Terme, Prague, Tirana, and St. Petersburg (the latter is active for only one month during the Christmas period). Come the summer season, Air One will increase air services at the Venice airport, introducing new direct connections to Moscow (April 2014) and Venice – Tel Aviv possibly from the end of January 2014, once the necessary authorizations have been obtained.
Plans for the summer of 2014 foresee two seasonal destinations to the Balearic Islands and the islands of Greece. From April 2014, flights will be resumed to: Brindisi, Cagliari, Olbia, Athens, and Copenhagen which will add to the connections made in the winter (the winter flights will be maintained also in summer). In total, in the summer of 2014, Air One will connect Venice to 17 destinations, of which 8 will be domestic and 9 international.
Overall, Alitalia and Air One will serve the Northeast with over 220 weekly flights, 9 by Alitalia and Air One aircrafts located in this area: 4 planes in Venice, of which 2 are at the Air One base and 2 are at the Alitalia base, for flights to Rome Fiumicino; 2 aircraft are at the Trieste base for links to Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate; 2 aircraft are on the Verona base for flights to Rome Fiumicino, as well as Air One flights to serve Catania and Palermo; and 1 plane is based in Bologna for links to Rome Fiumicino, in addition to Air One flights to Catania.
Mr. Enrico Marchi, President of SAVE, said the importance of the air link between Venice and the Far East is seen as the opening of a new source of business and markets. The new permanent base of Air One at Marco Polo Venice Airport helps to consolidate the strategic role of the domestic network, the feeding of transit business, and facilitate the opening of medium-range international air traffic, which from spring 2014 will include Tel Aviv and Moscow.
