December 14, 2018 / 15:15 IST
One of Italy's newest airlines Air Italy has become the only commercial carrier to have a direct non-stop flight between Mumbai and Milan with the touch down of its inaugural flight on December 14.
The private airline with 49 percent control by middle eastern heavyweight Qatar Airways will have three flights a week from Mumbai in addition to three direct flights a week from Delhi that started last week.
A senior official from Air Italy said it is starting operations with the Airbus A330-200 aircraft and will look at Boeing 737 Max planes at later stages if there is need to expand operations in India.
The airline is offering 24 fully reclining flatbed seats in Business Class and 228 seats in Economy Class. Air Italy's Mumbai service offers connections to New York and Miami as well as domestically across Italy.
Air Italy has 15 aircraft currently and hopes to take the figure to 50 by 2022. The airline signed an interline agreement with Tata Group-promoted Vistara. It has a 'single digit' market share in Italy but a 40 percent share in Milan.
Rossen Dimitrov, Chief Operating Officer, Air Italy said, "Italy is the second most visited country in Europe by Indian travellers. Italy is home to around 200,000 Indians and about 112,000 Italians travel to India every year. Both countries have emerged as a top wedding destination. Moreover, the bilateral trade between the countries is 7.5 billion euros. This makes for a perfect business case for us to launch flights between India and Italy."
Dimitrov said the market size of flyers between India and Italy is around 360,000 a year and growing rapidly. India's flag carrier Air India is the leader of this segment with direct flights between Rome and New Delhi.
The US has objected to the significant stake held by Qatar Airways in Air Italy which the airline risks of getting a penal action with regards to connecting US cities. Air Italy connects New York and Miami from Milan Malpensa.
"We have to be cautious as we are entering at a turbulent time. We have to see how we can expand further. We are not here to get and get out. We see a long-term business case in India," added Dimitrov.
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