Easyjet, from today more flights to Linate and Fiumicino. Ita, at the start of the synergies with Lufthansa: here’s what changes
The British carrier officially opened the foundations in the two Italian airports after inheriting some Italian-German slots. And the word « member of the Lufthansa group » appears on the planes of Ita «
Easyjet’s adventure as the « Guarantor » of the competition of the wedding between Ita Airways and Lufthansa in the airports of Milan Linate and Rome Fiumicino was taken off at 6.14 on Sunday morning. While in the same hours the Italian-German operations have been further « homogenized » with the joint use of the main airport terminals in Frankfurt and Monaco, two of the hubs of the European giant of the skies.
The news
Easyjet-which opened two bases in Italian airports after « won » the race as Remedy Taker as part of the Italfthansa procedure-officially started operations with the first flights to European destinations where Italians and Germans would have been otherwise dominant or monopolistic. In Fiumicino the way was given by the departure of an orange Airbus A319 with destination Zurich shortly after 6 in the morning. In Linate, at 7.06, it touched another A319, always from the British Aviolinea, headed for Frankfurt.
What the EU asks
Easyjet is called to guarantee for three years the connectivity between Linate and Fiumicino and some stops of Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria. For this reason, the British carrier has obtained – definitively – 30 slots (the take -off and landing rights) daily at the Milanese City Airport which will also serve to increase competitiveness in the airport. To do this, the low cost also had to open two bases, positioning 5 aircraft in Linate (of which 3 rented by Ita that will drop to 2 during the winter) and 3 jets in Fiumicino.
The routes
This passage has also led Easyjet to launch 13 new routes – also using Ita aircraft – towards destinations not served by Linate (such as Lisbon or Barcelona) as well as to increase the frequencies on the cities already reached always using the 30 daily slots. « The opening of these two new bases in Italian airports is a milestone for Easyjet, » comments in a post on his LinkedIn Lorenzo Lagorio profile, Easyjet Country Manager in Italy.
Livery and terminals
Further north, in Germany, two Airbus A320neo of Ita Airways landed with a adhesive on the tail « Member of Lufthansa Group » which for the first time also visually indicates belonging to the European giant of the skies. Not only that. The transfer of Ita operations to the T1 terminal of Frankfurt Airport and T2 of the Monaco airport has become effective. In addition to the joint use of the terminals – it underlines in a note – « passengers will have more direct access to flights in connection and in codehare with the companies of the German group ».
Shared access to the lounges
And again. «Always from today (Sunday 30 March, editor’s note), the passengers of ITA will be able to access over 130 lounges all over the world, and at the same time the passengers of the vectors of the Lufthansa group, they will be able to use the Lounge of ITA according to the methods of access provided by the companies « . « These operational innovations are the result of a continuous and profitable collaboration with the Lufthansa group and enrich the services that we have already made available to our customers from the first weeks following the agreement with the German partner », comments Joerg Eberhart, CEO and general manager of Ita.
