Alitalia starts new life as first flights take off

Italy's former state-controlled airline, Alitalia took to the skies as a revamped, privately-owned carrier on Tuesday after nearly being grounded for good.
Below are some facts about Alitalia and expected changes following its relaunch under new ownership.

FIVE FACTS ABOUT ALITALIA:

- Alitalia began operations on 16 September 1946. Its name derives from a combination of "Ali" -- Italian for wings -- and "Italia".

- When Paul VI became the first pope to fly in a plane, in 1964, he flew Alitalia. Pope Benedict last year prayed for the airline's survival when he left for France on a papal trip.

- Alitalia last reported a profit in 2002, but only because Dutch airline KLM paid 200 million euros to break an alliance.

- Former chairman Maurizio Prato called the airline "cursed", saying only an exorcist could save it after Air France-KLM's takeover of the carrier collapsed last April due to opposition from unions.

- The airline sought bankruptcy protection on 29 Aug., paving the way for the CAI group of Italian investors led by businessman Roberto Colaninno to buy its profitable parts and leave its debt to the Italian state.

WHAT CHANGES UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP?

- A new alliance with Air France-KLM will boost Alitalia's role within the SkyTeam airline alliance and help plug holes in its foreign route map. Air France-KLM gets a 25% stake and cannot increase its shareholding for at least four years under a lock-up arrangement for Italian investors.

- The reshaped airline will fly to 70 destinations -- 23 domestic, 34 international and 13 intercontinental.

- Domestic market share is targeted to rise to 56% from 30%. That compares with domestic market share of 91% for Air France-KLM and 53% for Lufthansa, according to Alitalia.

- Average age of its fleet to fall to 8.6 years from 12.4 years, compared to 9 years for Air France-KLM, 11.4 years for British Airways and 11.9 years for Lufthansa.