Alitalia, other Italian carriers’ future at stake, says report

Alitalia flights fear grounding as the airline’s future is at stake. Apart from Alitalia, other Italian carriers are facing an imminent threat to their very existence. Recent media reports quoted a travel expert as saying that the increase in the number of passengers for Italian carriers is simply not a harbor in the tempest of the financial crisis.

The report quoting the travel expert said that Italian carriers risk “disappearing” due to competition on prices, which continue to decrease steadily. According to the report, the profit has been drastically cut over the years for traditional airlines, while the low cost carriers continue to become stronger with each passing day.

Currently, the Italian market is dominated by the Irish carrier Ryanair and British carrier Easyjet. Both the carriers are low cost.

According to ENAC Report published in 2011, the number of passengers in Italian airports totaled 147.9 million, nearly 9 million more than the previous years. However, even though the number of passengers has shown an increase, the Italian carriers continue to suffer losses. Even Alitalia CEO has pointed out that the airline will suffer loss in the first four months of 2012.