Alitalia says introducing a surcharge for global
distribution system bookings, as its partner Air France-KLM has done, is
"on the table." Still, the carrier does not plan any action on the
matter in the near future, chief commercial officer Fabio Maria Lazzerini said.
At a press conference on Thursday, Lazzerini said a focus on
distribution costs is important, particularly for international markets; while direct
bookings account for 45 percent of Alitalia flights purchased at an Italian
point of sale, they make up closer to 30 percent of all Alitalia bookings
worldwide, he said. At the moment, however, increasing volume is the more
critical goal, particularly as Alitalia adds
routes like New Delhi and extends service in Los Angeles. "We need to
be represented in markets which don't know us extremely well," Lazzerini
said. "Sooner or later, we need to look at the way we manage the trade,
but it's not exactly the right time to change the way we distribute because we need
the effort from everybody to continue to sell Alitalia."
In the meantime, Alitalia is working to increase direct
distribution, including integrations with Travelfusion and Farelogix, he said.
Administration Update
The Italian government is reviewing seven offers to buy the
carrier. It began
bankruptcy proceedings this year. An Alitalia spokesman could not reveal
all the suitors but confirmed that Lufthansa and EasyJet, both of which have
publicly confirmed their interest, were among the potential buyers.
Last month, the government increased its loan, meant to keep
Alitalia flying during the administration process, from 600 million euros to
900 million euros and extended the repayment deadline to the end of September
2018, Lazzerini said. "It's not because we need it because out of the 600
million, very few euros have been used," he said. "It allows us to
ensure that we have the accounts in order and have the license to fly."
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