Fabio Maria Lazzerini, the Chief Commercial Officer, presenting the new Alitalia "StopOver a Roma" initiative, said that "the turnover, for the first time, after six years, has returned to 3% growth in the 2017, which however has been a difficult year ". A positive year is expected, therefore, in terms of turnover and passengers.
The long haul in particular is driving the increase in turnover. The strong contribution of long-haul flights, in 2018, should show an increase in the order of 10%. To strengthen long-haul flights, according to Lorenzini, there will also be the opening of new intercontinental routes including the connection with Johannesburg. In addition to the long-haul, Alitalia is also recording a growth in domestic traffic.
The goal of "StopOver Rome", the new product launched by Alitalia with the collaboration of Federalberghi Rome, Unindustria, Adr and with the patronage of the Municipality of Rome, is to promote the overnight stay in Rome of international passengers who call at the Fiumicino airport and continue to other destinations from Italy.
Specifically, Alitalia passengers traveling between 2 cities of the world, making a stopover at Fiumicino, will be able to:
- have the opportunity to stay in Rome at the same price as a ticket, with a simple airport transit: there will be no penalty for the interruption of the trip. The airline will always consider a single return journey, with initial departure and final destination even if the customer stops;
- take advantage of a special hotel rate at affiliated facilities and free luggage storage at Fiumicino airport.
Lazzerini, said that "the strength of the project lies in the numbers": it will start from an audience of 500 thousand passengers, who will become 1,5milioni when fully operational.
The challenge will have benefits for everyone, for Alitalia, for the economy of the capital, for hoteliers and for the related industries that tourism generates. Alitalia can really play a role as a driving force for Italian tourism.
Creating synergies with the main Italian airline is fundamental for the growth of the city's tourist accommodation system: "StopOver Rome is an intelligent way of encouraging the increase in the number of visitors to the capital", said Gianluca De Gaetano, Deputy General Manager of Federalberghi Rome and Lazio.
Thanks also to this new joint initiative, Fiumicino airport is confirmed as a strategic hub, a gateway not only for the city of Rome and for Italy, but for Europe and the Mediterranean.