Italian regional carrier Air Vallée has confirmed it will introduce a new connection between Parma and Rome at the end of this month with further new routes to be announced in the coming weeks. The airline has established an operational base at Parma Giuseppe Verdi Airport and from spring 2012 it plans to station two newly acquired jets there. The airline had originally intended to use Embraer E-Jets but is now understood to be looking at sourcing two Fokker 100s on ACMI leases.

Ahead of this Air Vallée has already operated a limited winter schedule of flights between Parma and Paris CDG to cater for the strong holiday traffic over the Christmas and New Year period and this past weekend it inaugurated flights to Catania, two months earlier than originally planned. The new Rome service will commence on January 30, 2012 and will be flown on a twice daily basis.

“We are delighted to be able to relaunch one of Parma Milan Airport’s most important routes so quickly,” said said Michele Costantino, President, Air Vallée. “We have the aircraft available and are able to offer a better quality service with competitive prices.”

Air Vallèe remains in advanced discussions with executives at the airport on its wider network strategy and its final flight schedule is expected to be formalised shortly. The airline confirms that Paris CDG will be among the destinations it will serve when the base opens this spring.

Sogeap SpA, the management company at Parma Airport has been working on bringing new routes to the facility for a long period. The region is densely populated and there are higher than average economic indicators in the catchment area when compared with the rest of Italy and wider European markets. There are also a high volume of enterprises as well as some of Italy’s most important head offices, particularly in the food and technology arena, in its vicinity.

“We have been aware that the Rome route operated by Air Alps has not met customer expectations for some time in terms of price and service and I have been focussed on finding alternative solutions for some time,” explained Paul Whelan, Managing Director, Parma Milan Airport. “Our next priority is to finalise the discussions with Alitalia to ensure that the route is operated in partnership with Alitalia ensuring international transit to and from Parma.”