Alitalia Inaugurates Beijing and Rio Links

Posted 09/06/2011

Italy’s national carrier Alitalia last week inaugurated flights from Rome Fiumicino to Beijing and Rio de Janeiro.  The flights commenced on June 1 and support the airline’s expansion strategy into the Asian and South American markets.  This has been made possible by the growth of its long-haul fleet and in particular the arrival of additional A330s and reconfigured Boeing 777 models.

The route to the Chinese capital, Beijing, is being operated four times per week, but will increases to a five times weekly schedule from October.  This is Alitalia’s only current link into China, although it does use its code on China Eastern Airlines’ three times weekly service to Rome from Shanghai.

The Rome – Rio de Janeiro route is initially being operated three times a week but will increase to four weekly rotations from next month.  The flight widens the carrier’s intercontinental network into a market where there are currently limited flight connections.

"China and Brazil represent, together with India and Russia, target markets for the strategy of expansion of intercontinental and international routes; the strategy focuses on areas of the world with the highest growth rate for leisure and business traffic,” said Giancarlo Schisano, EVP Chief Operating Officer, Alitalia at a launch event for the two new services.

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