Rome-based Aeroitalia has started a codeshare with Albanian airline Albawings in the Bergamo-Tirana route, which is already served by both carriers. The news was reported by aviation news website ItaliaVola, and tickets are already for sale on both companies’ channels.

While Aeroitalia operates the route twice a week with its Boeing 737-800, Albawings operates three weekly frequencies, soon to be four, with the 737-400 (one of the few still in operation in Europe).

This partnership is likely a defensive move from both airlines against Wizz Air, the largest airline in Albania, which operates two-daily flights between Tirana and Bergamo. While Wizz has had difficulties expanding into Western Europe, West-East connections remain the core of the Hungarian airline’s business.

At the same time, these flights cater to the Albanian citizens living in Italy — Albanians are the third-largest diaspora in the country, after Romanians and Moroccans, according to ISTAT, the national statistics institute. A large part of this population lives in Lombardy.

Aeroitalia starts selling connections

Aeroitalia has also quietly started selling flights with connections — a drift from its initial point-to-point business model. The information was first reported by Sicilia in Volo, a page made by Sicilian aviation enthusiasts which promotes aviation in Italy’s Southernmost region.

According to the Italian airline’s booking system, the connections will be initially focused on its Rome/Fiumicino base, connecting its higher-frequency domestic destinations of Alghero, Bergamo, Olbia and Palermo to Bacău and Bucharest, in Romania, and vice-versa.

While the change from a commercial perspective is significant, the network was not optimized for connections, which means the airline has not changed its operation in order to accommodate further connections — instead, it will rely on opportunistic, “natural” connections.

Some of the available routes will have nonstop, ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) competition.

Such a move might also be a sign of soft bookings for Aeroitalia. The airline, which started operations in April 2022, has been facing stiff competition in the markets it is operating in, particularly from the always aggressive ULCCs, known for being highly protective of their own markets.

This has translated into a constantly-changing network; for instance, its ambitious operation from Bergamo for this Summer season never turned into reality (although it was put for sale for a number of weeks). Bergamo is Ryanair’s largest operation in continental Europe, and Aeroitalia settled for the continuità territoriale flights between Sardinia and Mainland Italy using those airplanes.

Back then, Prof. Gaetano Intrieri, Aeroitalia’s CEO, published an open letter to Ryanair’s Group CEO, Michael O’Leary, saying that “Aeroitalia went to Forlì and you, after over ten years, returned to Forlì”.

“Aeroitalia has put the Bergamo-Lublin [for sale] without ‘disturbing the driver’ and you, who do not even know where the hell is Lublin, have put the Bergamo-Lublin [for sale]. For 20 years you had flown to Bergamo without ever connecting this charming Polish city”.

This Summer will be Aeroitalia’s trial by fire after last year’s start-up; besides being the first full year for the company, the airline intends to grow strongly. In a January interview with Avionews.it, Prof. Intrieri said the company planned to receive two Boeing 737-800 and three 737 MAX 8, essentially doubling the fleet it has under its AOC.

Besides its five 737-800, Aeroitalia also operates one 737-700 and another 737-800 from Romania’s HelloJets, as well as an ATR 72-600 from Bucharest-based startup Air Connect.

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