Cargoitalia has completed its first commercial flight since its reformation under new management and ownership.
The new Cargoitalia business was formed after the original Cargoitalia, which suspended operations in 2008, merged with the recently-purchased Alitalia full cargo business.
The flight flew from Milan to Hong Kong carrying cargo on behalf of three major Italian forwarders, returning to Milan with a technical stop at Almaty in Kazakhstan.
Hong Kong has been chosen as the airline’s second route, which will be operated from September using a second MD11SF aircraft, which is due for delivery within the next few weeks.
The airline achieved average 87 per cent load factors both ways, which Roberto Gilardoni, commercial director at Cargoitalia, said is “very gratifying, and an indication of the market’s demand, enthusiasm and loyalty for an Italian-owned and operated service.”
Cargoitalia’s new owners are ALIS (Aerolinee Italiane S.p.A. – 66.7 per cent) and Intesa SanPaolo (33.3 per cent).
