Italian startup Aeroitalia has signed a partnership agreement with Forli Airport (FRL) in Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region to expand its operations from the airport.

The carrier, which began commercial operations in July 2022, will station one 68-seat ATR 72-600 and one 148-seat Boeing 737-700 at Forli during the northern summer 2023 season. The move will enable the carrier to offer 18 routes in collaboration with tour operator Go To Travel.

The scheduled service will include flights to 10 domestic destinations, as well as eight international links to cities including Dubrovnik in Croatia and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Giuseppe Silvestrini, president of FA srl, which manages Forli Airport, said Aeroitalia’s network plans take into account historical traffic volumes and the “potential and exclusivity of some destinations.”

According to OAG data, Aeroitalia has this month filed plans to serve Catania (CTA) and Trapani (TPS) from Forli, although booking is unavailable on both routes at the present time.

The airline first launched operations from Forli—seen as an alternative to Bologna—during the summer 2022 season, initially flying to Brindisi, Catania and Lamezia Terme. However, after adding further routes to the likes of Alghero in Sardinia, it scaled back operations soon after, instead concentrating on growing from Milan Bergamo (BGY).

The move coincided with Ryanair’s return to Forli after a 13-year absence, although the Irish ULCC continues to serve different routes to those offered by Aeroitalia, flying to Palermo (PMO) in Sicily and Katowice (KTW) in Poland.

In December, Aeroitalia outlined plans to operate up to 27 routes from Bergamo during summer 2023 using 737-800s, as well as 11 from Florence (FLR). The airline also launched new routes to London Heathrow (LHR) from BGY and FLR last month, but the FLR-LHR service is understood to have ended on Jan. 4.