The first balance sheet of AeroItalia
It closed the financial statements with 25 million in revenues, but what stands out in the 2022 accounts is an operating result of +200 thousand euros. In a sector that is still licking its wounds from Covid and where profits can often only be read in the industrial plan (the parable of Alitalia is the proof), the AeroItalia company celebrates its first year of life (it obtained the license on 20 April last year) with the wind in its favour.
And a flight plan that should lead it, by the end of the year, to embark 4 million passengers, for a turnover of 130 million and a gross operating margin of around 7%. “With a touch of pride we approved our profit balance sheet – he says Gaetano Intrieri, CEO of the company -. Generally it is tolerable for a company to close the first year with a loss, but we managed to do better and in a notoriously difficult sector”.
Intrieri is a notable figure in the world of Italian civil aviation. Contract university professor, former consultant to Danilo Toninelli’s ministry at the time for major works, he was managing director of Eagles Airlines, Italiatour, ClubAir and Gandalf, a firework in the years of the net-economy euphoria.
For the latter he had also caught one conviction for fraudulent bankruptcy. “But let me clarify one thing once and for all – he continues -. When I arrived in Gandalf, I had found debts of 94 million. I raised them to 45 million euros, allowing the company, which had been suspended from listings on the Stock Exchange, to be readmitted, by virtue of the recovery plan I had begun”.
The AeroItalia model
In recent years it had also been indicated in the cockpit of Alitalia. “But I’ve always refused – he replies -. AeroItalia, on the other hand, is the first company where I was able to start from scratch”. With clear objectives and almost obsessive cost control. “The secret of an airline’s success is having accurate management control. The problem, as we often want to believe, is not the personnel, but the other costs that exist, starting with leasing contracts and maintenance”, explains Intrieri.
And here the thought can only go to the future of Ita and to the personal knot. “The thing that displeases me the most about the story of Ita is this sort of unconditional surrender of a country, which it failed to have a flag carrier – he adds -. Lufthansa is the best solution, but in my opinion it is important that the Alitalia brand also remains”.
Space to fly
But is there still room for an air carrier in Italy? “There is space – confirms Itrieri -, but the entry barriers are high and I don’t see concrete projects at the moment”. This is why AeroItalia can now truly imagine vertical growth. After the capital strengthening of the company, controlled by the French banker Marc Bourgade, which between profit and payments is 5 million, and the fleet which will reach eight aircraft in the summer, aims to carry up to 7,000 passengers a day with Sardinia (where the company has also awarded a part of the territorial continuity) and Sicily as focal sections and Rome as a hub. In the autumn the Catania base will be opened and the routes will be strengthened.
“Sardinia together with Sicily is certainly the most important and expanding market”, confirms the CEO. But it’s long radius that AeroItalia’s challenge becomes more fascinatingwith the aim of landing in South America and the USA in 2025. “And at that point having a partner could also be a reinforcement for us”, concludes Intrieri.