Interview: Flight routes to China key to flag carrier Alitalia: chairman

China's routes are key to Italian flagship airline Alitalia's new development strategy, the chairman of Alitalia Luca Cordero di Montezemolo told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Last Friday, with the inauguration of Expo Milano 2015, Alitalia launched a new non-stop service between Milan and Shanghai that will be followed by Rome-Beijing in October.

Cordero di Montezemolo said the possibility to give Chinese travelers direct access to Italy is a "first very important step" to do right in a difficult market which faces competition from low-cost flights.

Today Alitalia is a private company, with 51 percent of shares owned by Italian shareholders and 49 percent owned by Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, the chairman said.

Thanks to the Abu Dhabi hub, he said, Alitalia is strengthening its range of intercontinental routes. As part of its 2015 summer schedule, the airline flies to 102 destinations, including 27 Italian and 75 international destinations, with a total of 164 routes and about 4,500 weekly flights.

"Alitalia has a very important challenge to take up, and Milan-Shanghai is a flight on which we bet a lot in terms of number of passengers as well as further strengthening relations between Italy and China," Cordero di Montezemolo said.

"Shanghai is a fundamental business area for our entrepreneurs as Milan is fundamental for their Chinese counterparts," he told Xinhua. "Then we will launch the Rome-Beijing flight which also represents an important challenge in which we believe a lot," he said.

"We are kicking off in a magic moment, the moment of Expo Milano 2015's opening, the baton passing with the Shanghai Expo 2015," Cordero di Montezemolo added.

In fact, the food-themed Italian world exposition, dedicated to sustainable and healthy nutrition for everybody, is "another important element of contact and development" for the two countries, which share a strong culinary tradition, the chairman noted.

The Alitalia strategy envisages a fleet renewal that will be presented in June with the new liveries of aircraft and completely renovated interiors in terms of technology and furniture.

A communication and promotion strategy to be carried out in China will combine "the quality of Alitalia services with China's strong passion for Made in Italy, but also the possibility of cultural collaborations and tourist exchange," Cordero di Montezemolo added.

The former chairman of Ferrari, for which the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong are the second largest market in the world after the Unites States, is proud of having "some very important personal links with China."

"I am an honorary citizen of Guangzhou, and when I was president of Confindustria -- Italy's leading industrial association -- I organized two big missions to China, each of them with more than 400 Italian entrepreneurs, which were very successful," he told Xinhua.

"I was among the first to promote collaboration with China some 10 years ago, when there was some concern in Italy about the relation with China," Cordero di Montezemolo recalled. Since then many Italian brands have invested in China and many Chinese investors have come to Italy, he underlined.

But above all, in a moment of economic recovery signs for Italy, there is an enormous growth potential for the two countries' middle-sized companies which can put together the high quality of Italian products with the great potential of China's market, he said. Endit