Frenchmen + Scooters = The New Alitalia

Well, last week brought the news that Italy's bankrupt "flag-carrier" airline, Alitalia, had finally been sold to a group of private investors headed by the chair of Piaggio--the Tuscan company that makes most of Italy's motor scooters (yes, including Vespas).

Their very first, rather un-encouraging, statement was that they were shopping around for another partner, preferably another major airline. It was no big secret that Air France/KLM was the one being wooed, and now they've made it official. Air France now owns a 25% share of the new Altialia.

Alrady, thigns are looking a bit confusing. On Monday, Bloomberg News reported that the plan woudl be to make Rome-Fiurmicino and Milan-Malpensa into hubs on the same level as Paris-CDG and Amsterdam-Shciphol. One can only hope.

Then today (Wednesday, Jan 13) Bloomberg turned around and said that Air France seems to be indicating that Alitalia's effort to keep both Rome and Milan as equal hubs was unsustainable.

They seemed to be framing it as the old Italian bickering between north and south, but it really seems to be more businessmen versus tourists. The Air France-KLM CEO said that ""Italy is not a big enough market to support two airport bases offering intercontinental flights," and so far all indications are that these besuited businessmen are aiming to make Milan the major hub. This might make sense to someone going over to ink a manufacturing deal or engage in a little international finance, but Rome is still top of the charts for most leisure travelers (the majority of whom don't want to spend more time in Milan than it takes to see The Last Supper).

Unlike other failed an relaunched European airlines like Sabena and Swiss Air, Alitalia will not be rebranding itself--at least, not yet. The planes, logos, flight attendant uniforms, and name will all stay the same, but do expect to see the number and frequeny of flights decrease even further.

No worries, though: no-frills airlines like Ryanair are already staking their claims to take up the slack and become major players in the domestic and regional Italy air market. Nothing like a little healthy competition to keep fares down and open new markets and routes, eh? So long as the new Alitalia stays healthy and solvent, this can only mean good news for travelers.

Air-car packages to Italy from $557

Auto Europe is offering a fantastically priced deal to Italy that bundles together airfare and a rental car. (Just go to the site and click on "Specials.")

Rates start at $557 per person for round-trip airfare and three days with a rental car to fly into Florence or Venice from Boston or New York ($619 from Miami or Chicago). $557 is also the price from Boston to Milan; for some odd reason, the price jumps to $579 for flights to Rome from New York and Boston, $647 for flights to Rome from Miami and Chicago.

Those are the prices for winter travel (Dec. 26, 2008 to Mar. 31, 2009; rates go up by more than 50% in spring), and don't include fuel surcharges of $264 to $330 (other government fees, taxes, and surcharges can add up to an additional $195.)

By the way, three days with a car is perfect for a trip of a week or two. Figure you'd be better off getting around by train to link the big cities, and rally only need a car for exploring hilltowns and vineyards and such. So on a typical 8-day trip (leave Friday night, return the following Sunday), you could fly to Rome, spend three days there, then take the train to Florence and spend two days there, then pick up your rental car to spend the last three days driving back through the hilltowns of Tuscany and Umbria on your way to Rome's airport to depart. Perfect.

Italy prepares for a trains versus planes smackdown

The Economist reports that, not only are low-cost carriers like Ryanair and easyJet giving the eternally-in-peril Alitalia a run for its money on some domestic air routes (more on that in a moment), but that the trains are shaping up to be an even better option on long hauls.

A new high-speed track on the Bologna-Milan line will cut 30 minutes off the travel time; by the end of 2009, a similar project should be finished for Bologna-Florence, slashing travel time from 60 to 30 minutes.

Planes still sound faster, right. Well remember: A 90 minute flight actually eats up approximately five hours of your time (give yourself an hour on each end to get to and from the airports, check in at least an hour early for your flight, and pad that with another 30 minutes for luggage retrieval, missed airport trains, and the wise decision to arrive at the airport a wee bit early).

Still, you can't argue with low prices from no-frills airlines--and air connections are a lot faster than trains for going from, say, Milan down to Apulia or Sicily.

The article cites only easyJet's new route connecting Rome's Fiumicino airport with Milan's Malpensa airport, but know that easyJet also flies from Rome to Bari and Palermo, and from Milan to Naples, Apulia (Bari, Brindisi), Sicily (Palermo, Catania), Lamezia, and Sardegna (Cagliari and Olbia).

Meanwhile, Ryanair--which is making a strong bid to oust Alitalia from its own market--now flies from Milan to Rome, Apulia (Bari, Brindisi), Sicily (Palermo, Trapani), Lamezia, and Sardegna (Cagliari, and Alghero); from Rome to Milan, Venice, Trapani, and Sardegna (Cagliari, Alghero); from Bologna to Apulia (Bari, Brindisi), Lamezia, and Sicily (Trapani); and from Pisa to Bari, Lamezia, Sicily (Palermo, Trapani), and Sardegna (Caglieri, Alghero).

Also in the article: more news on the announced rival to the Italian state railways that is aiming to provide high-speed service between Rome, Milan Turin/Torino), and Venice in 2011.