Lufthansa Italia Nearing Operations
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Robert Wall wall@aviationweek.com
Lufthansa Italia should receive its air operator certificate in September or October, the carrier's director Heike Birkenbach says.
The airline is already training its own pilots and cabin personnel to be ready to go once the AOC is granted. The airline pursued its own AOC in part to emphasize its flavor as an Italian entity. Some issues, such as whether that means flights will get a different code, remain to be worked out.
Meanwhile, the airline also is examining possible expansion options. Lufthansa Italia currently serves 11 destinations, including Brussels. But the parent's acquisition of Brussels Airlines may mean that link will be served by the sister airline, freeing up one of Lufthansa Italia's aircraft to service a new destination.
Birkenback says there also is increasing attention being paid on possible reaching into smaller Italian cities and routing them through Lufthansa Italia's Milan Malpensa hub. Initially, the airline was targeting mainly point-to-point traffic, but already is seeing 15-20% of transfer traffic.
Accessing some of those smaller markets will likely require other aircraft than the A319s currently used. Two paths are under review. One is to look at aircraft made available within Lufthansa as capacity adjustments have been made, and possibly redeploying those assets to operate from Milan for the time being. As it is, Lufthansa Italia already uses one wet-leased A319 from BMI, and it may pursue a similar arrangement with others.
Another avenue being looked at is finding a feeder partner. One candidate would be Air Dolomiti, which also is 100% owned by Lufthansa.
Birkenback expects expansion next year, but the scope depends on how economies recover in the second half of the year. Economic fundamentals also will drive when the unit is profitable, she says, noting that the 60% load factor so far is seen as positive for the startup.
Photo credit: Lufthansa
