Eirad Co. for Travel and Tourism yesterday inked an agreement with Alitalia Airline, authorizing Eirad as sole agency for the airline in Saudi Arabia for the first time after the airline became a private entity.
The airline has offices in Egypt, Pakistan, Iran and now Saudi Arabia. Alitalia is among the top world airlines in terms of flight punctuality. The agreement was signed by Eirad GM Ahmad A. Alhamed Al-Hazmi and Alitalia's Area Manager Tommaso Fumelli.
Fumelli said Alitalia's first flight from Rome to Riyadh will be on Sept. 18 this year and from Riyadh to Rome on Sept. 19.
From Jan. 1, 2013, Alitalia's fleet would be among the youngest in the world, he said. Since 2009, Alitalia has started an ambitious fleet renewal plan characterized by the entry of 44 new aircraft including Embraers E-190 and E-175 for the regional fleet, Airbuses A319 and A320 for medium haul and Airbuses A330 for long haul.
He said over the last few days, the Alitalia fleet saw the phasing in of a new Airbus A319 named Silvio Pellico, i.e. the one hundredth aircraft of the medium-haul Airbus family (A319s, A320s and A321s) in the airline fleet. By the end of the year, the planned entry of a further 15 new Airbus A330s, Airbus A319s and Embraer E-Jets will increase the new-aircraft number to 59; concurrently the old MD80s will be totally phased out.
By July, the cabin reconfiguration of the 10 long-haul Boeing B777s will be completed so as to accommodate the 3 new travel classes for intercontinental flights.
By Jan. 1, Alitalia will have a fully new or renewed fleet, which will be listed among the youngest (with only a 6.5 year average lifetime).
