Rome-Milan route decision by Italy’s railway irks Alitalia

Alitalia flights on the Rome-Milan route is likely to be impacted. The airline has expressed its unhappiness over the decision of Italy’s railway authorities to being a high-speed rail service between Rome and Milan.

The airline in a statement said that its operations on the lucrative Rome-Milan route have been adversely impacted economically. The competition by the country’s railway by deciding to launch a high-speed rail service on the quite lucrative route between these two cities has brought financial worries to the airline. Alitalia has said it will appeal against the decision.

In the past three years due to a competition from the Frecciarossa high-speed train, the airline has lost 2 million passengers and about 50 percent of the revenues. The high-speed rail service has achieved a market share of 56 percent of Rome-Milan route.

The Frecciarossa high-speed train service was launched on December 13, 2008. The train service has earned 19 points of market share to reach 56 percent of passengers carried, as compared to 32 percent of the aircraft.