Malpensa wins Lufthansa deal
MILAN, Italy—Lufthansa will position six jets at Milan's Malpensa airport to begin service next year to European business capitals, the companies announced Monday.
The deal comes as SEA, the Milan airport operator, seeks to fill vacancies at Malpensa left by the struggling Alitalia airline, which has sharply reduced flights to Malpensa under a business plan meant to keep the airline afloat until a buyer can be found.
"The agreement with Lufthansa confirms the will of SEA to work in close collaboration with those who believe in Malpensa's development," SEA Chief Executive Giuseppe Bonomi said in a statement announcing the memorandum of understanding.
Lufthansa currently operates 372 flights weekly to Milan -- serving both Malpensa and Linate airports -- through its Air Dolomiti subsidiary, which also flies to other northern Italian destinations including Verona. Those flights are bound for Lufthansa hubs in Munich and Frankfurt, where passengers can pick up connecting flights to other Lufthansa destinations.
The six Embraer 195 jets -- which seat about 100 passengers -- to be based at Malpensa will fly directly to European business capitals, but the cities and routes have not yet been decided, said Lufthansa spokeswoman Amelie Lorenz. It also remained to be seen if the flights would operate as Lufthansa or Air Dolomiti flights.
"Milan and the Lombardy region are among the strongest and most important regions in Europe and have a high passenger volume," Lufthansa Executive Vice President Karl Ulrich Garnadt said in a statement. "By expanding our flight offering, we will be able to provide an even denser network of routes to attractive destinations in Europe for our Italian customers."
Backers of Malpensa have said other airlines have shown interest in expanding their presence at the northern Italian airport to fill slots left vacant by Alitalia.
The failed Air France-KLM bid for Alitalia met with strong resistance due in part to plans to demote Malpensa from its status as an Alitalia hub, although the Alitalia board had already made the same decision in its business plan last August.
Alitalia's summer schedule, introduced last month, also has severely reduced flights in and out of Malpensa.
Premier-elect Silivo Berlusconi -- who campaigned against the Air France-KLM deal -- has an aide working to assemble a group of Italian investors to take over the struggling airline, possibly in partnership with a foreign airline.
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