Losses may force Alitalia out of India

Mumbai: Mounting losses may force Italy’s leading airline Alitalia to pull out from India even as more global carriers begin flying to India and more domestic airlines explore international routes.
Senior executives of the airline could not be reached for comment but a representative at the airline’s reservation office said there are no scheduled Alitalia flights to and from India after March. “There is no formal circular issued by Alitalia indicating the stoppage of flights but there is no schedule updated on the system after March,” added the executive, who asked not to be identified. Alitalia currently operates daily flights to Milan from Mumbai and New Delhi.
The imminent exit of Alitalia comes just over a year after UK’s second largest full service scheduled airline, British Midland Airways or BMI, shut down its Indian operations due to poor passenger response. BMI, a member of the largest operating grouping of global carriers Star Alliance, operated flights on the busy Mumbai-Heathrow segment.
Executives at several travel agencies who did not wish to be named confirmed that Alitalia was pulling out.
18/02/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Categories: Foreign Feb 2008