The Alitalia successor Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) is now officially an airline, because on Wednesday Enac boss Pierluigi Di Palma handed over the AOC and operating license. The sale of flight tickets can begin with immediate effect.

The first aircraft that is registered on ITA and already has an “operated by ITA” sticker is the EI-EJN. A few days ago, this Airbus A330 was the one required for the issuing of the certificates Demonstration flight carried outt. Officials from the Italian aviation authority Enac were on board.

The brand under which ITA will be launched is still open. The reason for this is that the EU Commission insists that the rights to the Alitalia brand cannot be seamlessly transferred. A public auction must be held and the highest bidder wins. Theoretically, it is possible that any person offers more than ITA and thus comes into possession of the Alitalia brand.

Regardless of the branding, ITA is to carry out the first commercial flight on its own account in October 2021. The predecessor, Alitalia, which has been kept in the air several times since the filing for bankruptcy with state aid, is then to be sent into liquidation. Before that, ITA should buy out some assets. Initially, some ex-Alitalia aircraft will be launched, but new orders are planned for the medium term. Airbus and Boeing are currently vying for orders.