Alitalia, Italy’s largest airline, has confirmed that it is on track to become profitable by 2017, as it reduced its losses by €381 million ($436 million) in 2015 compared to the previous year.

This important result comes as the airline announced its first full reporting year under a three-year turnaround industrial plan.

After posting total revenues of €3.312 billion in 2015, Alitalia reported a net loss of €199.1 million for 2015, a significant improvement on the €580 million loss recorded in 2014. This performance is in line with the targets set in its industrial plan.

Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana commenced operations on January 1, 2015 after acquiring the operational activities of Alitalia - Compagnia Aerea Italiana, now named CAI. CAI has a 51 per cent controlling stake in Alitalia and the remaining 49 per cent of shares are owned by Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE.

Alitalia chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said: “Reducing our losses is a first important step,  together with the relentless commitment to improve our services, our fleet and our network with the opening of new strategic intercontinental routes. This has been made possible due to the determination and passion of Alitalia’s men and women to whom I want to extend my heartfelt thanks.

"Return to profitability in 2017 remains our goal. Today’s results show that Alitalia has become more efficient in controlling costs and is on track for profitability by 2017.  All our efforts are focused on reaching that target. Few airlines have undergone such radical change as the new Alitalia.  We are delivering on our promise to create a world class airline,” Montezemolo said.

During the year, Alitalia met or exceeded a wide range of performance indicators, as it moved forward with its extensive restructuring programme.

The airline carried a total of 22.1 million passengers with a load factor of 76.2 per cent. There was also a strong and growing contribution of €235.4 million from its codeshare partnerships.  

Its partnership with Etihad Airways has played a major role. Since January 2015, Alitalia and Etihad Airways have shared more than 450,000 passengers between their networks, while more than 1.2 million passengers have been shared between Alitalia and Etihad Airways partner airlines.

Alitalia continues to deepen its existing cooperation with airberlin to strengthen further air connections between Italy, and Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Customers benefit from up to 25 per cent more weekly non-stop flights from Italy.

Cramer Ball, Alitalia CEO, said: “There is still much to do to reach our long- term goals, but this year has seen our team achieve many significant milestones. The next phase of our investment strategy will see €400 million being committed to fleet, cabins, technology and infrastructure in 2016. Our most important investment to date, and the one bearing most fruit, has been the investment in our people.  It is the people of Alitalia who are bringing this brand to life and creating a new force in European aviation.  I thank each and every one of the Alitalia employees for their hard work and dedication”. - TradeArabia News Service