In Milan-Malpensa, ALIScargo Airlines, a new freight carrier, is currently being established. To start operations, 2 passenger B777-200 are targeted with their seats cleared off the cabin. The main financial backer of the project is the Leali Group, an industrial company based in Padua, northern Italy.
Northern Italy is traditionally a highly industrialized region, which makes the local market incredibly attractive for the air freight industry. However, this market is mainly frequented by foreign capacity providers, predominantly EK, QR, LH Cargo, Turkish, AF-KL, Swiss and others. A national Italian all-cargo airline has not yet managed to establish itself as a serious major player to leverage the attractive industrial potential existing between the Alpes and the Tuscany province, with the exception of the Cargolux subsidiary Cargolux Italia operating 4 B747-400Fs and based in Milan.
Many questions still remain open
Now, however, a domestic carrier could stir up the local northern Italian market provided the Italian aviation authorities give green light for the AOC. The name of the newcomer: ALIScargo
Airlines. It is “the first Italian airline entirely dedicated to the intercontinental transport of goods,” according to a press release. Much is still vague, however, such as the
targeted network, for instance. To start with, the management speaks of charter flights to 'Asia-Pacific' and 'North America', without further specifications. But the bio of CEO Francesco Rebaudo
could provide clues. As former CEO of Cargolux Italia he opted for the sector Malpensa-New York-Chicago-Malpensa. Eastbound Rebaudo established the sector MPX-DBX-HKG and back, operated by
B747-400Fs.
Uli is back on deck
It is expected that the management will communicate further details on the intended network shortly. This also goes for their future fleet policy and marketing strategy.
In Ulrich Ogiermann, who has been nominated Chief Commercial Officer, the company managed to appoint a prominent figurehead who knows the air freight business like no other. Uli set CargoLogic
Germany on track and managed the carrier to obtain an AOC. He acted as Chief Cargo Officer at Qatar Airways, was President and CEO of Cargolux and – prior to that – Senior Manager at Lufthansa
Cargo.
The management promises “customized services”
Chairman of the newcomer is Fulvio Gismondi, Tenured Professor of Financial Mathematics and Pro Rector with responsibility for Research at the Guglielmo Marconi University in Rome and Former
Partner and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers, (pwc), a network of independent companies that are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. On the occasion of
ALIScargo’s launch Mr. Gismondi declared: "Air freight transport in the world during the two-year period 2020 - 2021, with the high need for urgent shipments of medical supplies for the
pandemic, recorded a surge in significant volumes and turnover compared to previous years. A trend that has also been reinforced by the continuous and constant expansion of e-commerce. Today, the
need to offer customized cargo services, depending on the product and the destination, is increasingly being verified. ALIScargo Airlines is ready to create a new bridge to the world to support
the expansion of Made in Italy.”
The Italian state is financially not involved
In contrast to state-financed Alitalia, the shareholders are private investors led by the Leali Group. “They are professionals with unquestionable competence in the aeronautical industry, who
have created a project based on values such as experience, professionalism, punctuality, and attention, but above all with the desire to give an all-Italian signal in the field of air freight, at
this particular time, during which radical changes are occurring in the social-economic environment,” reads the press release.
Heiner Siegmund
We always welcome your comments to our articles. However, we can only publish them when the sender name is authentic.
Write a comment