Air Italy is the controversial Italian airline that Qatar Airways has a 49% stake in. The airline used to be known as Meridiana, but with funding from Qatar Airways the airline has launched new routes and updated their onboard product.
Continue reading: Air Italy Backtracks On 787 Plans
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I took the Air Italy non-stop between LAX and MXP a few weeks back and I feel that they are silly for going seasonal. Most flights from LAX to Europe are full every day of the week regardless of season (I go to Europe about once a month from LAX). The flight on the return was much fuller than the flight going (two weeks after they started service). If they were to keep service year round they would be full within a number of months and would be able to maintain that.
I suspect this is equally about Qatar wanting to get rid of its last remaining older A330s with angled seats! They probably have a few sitting around that they are much keener to get rid of than the newer 788s, saves on cabin renovation costs.
@Andrew I agree, there’s no way LAX doesn’t have enough demand to be year-round.
@Kerry I was gonna write kind of the same thing. This really isn’t as surprising or as bad of a sign about the airline’s finances as it seems - the 787 is less expensive to operate than the A330, so if they were really doing that badly they’d probably want to replace the A330s with 787s ASAP. It’s probably simpler for them to keep the A330 for fleet commonality - the COO is right, they’re not big enough for a mixed long-haul fleet - and of course there’s the added benefit that Qatar gets to get rid of their A330s quicker. If anything this whole development is an indication that Air Italy is likely not as financially strained as we all thought, they’ve just gotten confused about their route plans and are trying to straighten things out.
@Alex. It just takes some time to ramp up and it seems that they are forgetting to be patient. Flights were great. Left pretty much on time both directions and service in economy was pretty solid.
Is Air Italy to Qatar what Vueling is to Iberia and Transavia is to Air France?
Anyway it is silly to replace the US-Europe connections with Maldives-Kenya-Tanzania connections and to go seasonal for the US.
Makes sense, it is just disappointing to over promise and under deliver. However, I flew MXP-MIA in business 2 weeks ago, great service, good food. And if you fly with a travel companion, seating and bedding is not too bad. IFE sub-par. They handed a free wifi code, but it barely worked, super slow (Panasonic). Flight was on time. Decent lounge in Milan. In Miami it arrives in a terminal with very few incoming flights, so immigration was super fast.
I always thought the Qatar’s 787-9 was to replace their 787-8 as they move on... therefore this makes sense!?...
If you knew the Italian leisure market, you’d know that Milan has a huge demand for charter flights in wintertime to places like Thailand and Eastern Africa. The city’s catchment area is huge - think 10 million people living within 1h30m from MXP. As this is easily the richest part of the country, it’s no surprise Air Italy sees an opportunity there.
The A330neo is cheaper or about the same to fly as the B787 depending on the route, when the purchase cost is taken into consideration. Airbus have a great legacy product, and Boeing still hasn't made a profit on the B787, so it will be interesting to see how these two planes compete in the long term.
@Chris Parkinson I think the even more interesting part of that article is where it quotes Al Baker saying that by 2024 they will be operating only the A321, with no A320s or A319s. That’s unexpected...
Having a mixed fleet for an airline their size doesn't make sense financially or operationally. We think it's a very smart move for Air Italy to stick with flying only the A330 for longhaul.