Alitalia license

The fastest Frecciarossa trains can run at kmph mph. Meanwhile, Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, a private company, launched its Italo trains in , covering 54 cities a day. Italy is the only country in the world to have two high-speed train operators. It's also home to the world's first high-speed freight service, running between Bologna and Maddaloni, in Campania, in just three and a half hours. Prices are relatively modest -- regional though not high-speed rail travel is subsidized -- Galietti calls the fares "not much" compared to France, Germany and Switzerland.

And onboard, the experience is not unlike that of an airline. Every passenger must have a reserved seat to board -- nobody is allowed to just hop on and hope to find a spot. Passengers can pick their seat when buying a ticket, and can accrue points that win them status.

Both Trenitalia and Italo have lounges at their main stations for top-tier travelers. Leading by example. Italy's rise in high-speed train passengers has coincided with a decline in domestic flights. Carlo Barbante is one of them. As a climate scientist, Barbante has always taken the train -- "If we're trying to convince people to reduce their carbon footprint in any way, we have to give the example -- be in the first row showing that we're using public transport," he says. Before the high-speed revolution, however, Italian trains were too slow to make Venice to Rome about miles a viable day trip.

Instead, he used to take the night trains. Until a couple of years ago, he says, there was a super-fast train that just stopped at Venice, Padova and Rome, which took just over three hours. However, that's a way off. In its DoT filing, ITA wrote that before it takes to the skies on October 15, it will have acquired "certain assets such as aircraft from Alitalia.

Is ITA the final name? Not necessarily. In that same filing, ITA said it was going to "participate in a public tender to acquire the Alitalia brand. Will it continue the Alitalia loyalty program? No -- the EU did not allow this. However, in a press release, ITA announced a "new loyalty program" that "can potentially be integrated with those of other industrial partners," and which is "totally focused on the customer needs of flexibility and accessibility to flights.

Who will design the uniforms? That's the question everyone wants to know, but ITA is keeping schtum -- a spokesperson declined to share details with CNN. However, hold out hope that they'll be decent -- this is Italy, after all.

In , despite being bankrupt, Alitalia shelled out on a new uniform for crew designed by Alberta Ferretti. Hilton Honors. January 11, Top Categories. All Categories. In Case You Missed It. Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram. Site Navigation. Hotel Promotions. In parallel to this situation, the new airline, Italia Trasporto Aereo ITA , has already started selling its first tickets to begin operations.

The European Commission gave the green light to the 1. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Leave this field empty. Advertise here Privacy and legal issues Contact Write a guest post here. Sign in. Forgot your password? Get help.