The Italian government announced that the start-up ITA should start on October 15, 2021. Whether or not you can use the Alitalia brand depends on the outcome of a public auction.

While the Italian government wanted to let the new state airline fly under the Alitalia brand, the EU Commission insists on a hard cut. ITA can acquire the rights to the fire at auction. However, depending on the interests, another bidder could submit the highest bid if the outcome of the auction has to be awaited.

It gets exciting when the auction does not end as the Italian government hopes, because ITA recently emphasized that the Alitalia brand is a central component of the strategy. In theory, any person who can find the change could throw a spanner in the works and bid for the rights to the Alitalia brand.

The EU Commission makes the auction a condition for the start-up grant for ITA. This is to be used to buy operationally necessary assets from Alitalia. The message from Brussels is clear: there is no green light without auctioning the brand. The Italian government set the date for the first flight on October 15, 2021. At the same time, Alitalia's flight operations are to be gradually discontinued and the "old company" will then be processed.