MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Alitalia's successor to start serving Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires in June

ITA Airways is owned 100 % by the Italian State

Italy's new airline ITA, which was founded to replace the extinct Alitalia, has announced it would start flying to Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires from Rome and back in the coming month of June.

ITA Airways, the Italian company that emerged after the closure of Alitalia, announced the reopening of the Buenos Aires-Rome route.

Through this initiative, the airline seeks to continue increasing its intercontinental network, with routes that have always been profitable, while waiting for a potential buyer.

ITA will also focus on the United States and will connect Rome with Los Angeles starting also in June. ITA's first flight took off Wednesday for Miami and so will the flight to Boston Thursday, with a connection to Tokyo.

Within Europe, ITA plans to offer summer services to Ibiza, Menorca, and Mallorca, as well as to Greece and Croatia.

ITA Airways is owned 100 % by the Italian State. It was created in October with 52 aircraft and just under 3,000 employees, while Alitalia had 11,000. ITA is currently undergoing a process of expansion and is looking for an industrial partner to boost its international competitiveness. The Italian-Swiss cruise company MSC and the German airline Lufthansa have been reported to have expressed their interest in purchasing a majority stake in ITA.

Lufthansa was already interested in buying some of Alitalia's assets when its administrators were trying to save it from bankruptcy, as Italy is an important foreign market for the German airline.

ITA Airways is expected to serve 64 destinations by mid-2022: 23 of them domestic, 34 international, and 7 intercontinental.

For shipping giant MSC, ITA could complement its strong cruise and cargo businesses.