Air Italy’s previous founder, Giuseppe Gentile, has registered a new trademark in Europe – “italian airways.” Not much is known yet about the entrepreneurs’ plans, but it may involve 100-seater aircraft like the Embraer E-jet and perhaps long-haul routes with a Boeing 777.
What was the new application?
Local publication Corriere picked up the new registration a week after the event, noticing that the previous founded of Air Italy, Giuseppe Gentile, had made several applications to the EU authority.
According to the EU Intellectual Property Office, on January 2nd, 2020, Mr. Gentile trademarked the name “italian airways” (all lower case with the Italian tricolor in the world Italian) until 2030 for 1,050 euros and applied for several licenses.
«Italian airways», la nuova compagnia aerea che per ora è solo un marchio (registrato) https://t.co/HPI8MWtFzC
— Corriere della Sera (@Corriere) July 20, 2020
Some of the licenses include:
- Goods and services business license – Air passenger services.
- Administration services – Commercial management, commercial business management, administration of programs for large travelers.
- Booking services – Reservation of seats in air travel, supply by electronic means of information relating to the planning and booking of travel with airlines
- Food and beverage license – Bar-coffee services, snack-bar services, preparation and supply of food and drink for immediate consumption, administration of food and drinks to guests.
All of which are the hallmarks of an airline. But to be clear, there is no official airline certificate at this time that is needed to actually operate passenger aircraft services.
What can we expect from “italian airlines”?
Despite all the above, it doesn’t tell us what market the airline venture will target, nor what aircraft will perform these routes.
Mr. Gentile was previously a founder of Air Italy back in 2005 and helped drive it to partner with Qatar in 2018. Qatar used its 49% investment in the airline to launch ‘backdoor’ routes to the USA, but the plan failed earlier this year.
In the vein of an aged article about the same character titled “what we expect from Air Italy“, who went out of business this year – let’s say ancora (again in Italian) and discuss what we expect from “italian airlines.”
Where will it be based?
From the source article, we can determine that “italian airlines” will be operated out of Bergamo-Orio al Serio airport located near Milan Bergamo in Northern Italy. This airport is the third major airport in Italy and cohabitated by many other airlines such as Ryanair.
This will mean that the airline has access to one of the densest’ markets in Europe and is located centrally to many other destinations across the continent.
What aircraft will it use?
Apparently, in 2018, Mr. Gentile tried to work out a deal with Ryanair to feed routes to and from Europe internationally using a fleet of long-haul Boeing 777s.
The idea was that Ryanair would supply an extensive European network, with “italian airlines” filling in the international connections. This plan didn’t come to fruition (and was denied by Ryanair at the time), and Air Italy ended up working with Qatar for a different purpose.
That Boeing 777 plan may be out for now, but there are rumors that Mr. Gentile is now looking for smaller 100-seater aircraft from Embraer. These planes could fly to Sardinia and other regional areas. The founder finished off his speculation with a hint he may be hiring previous employees from Air Italy.
“Investing in air transport today may seem like a gamble, but I think it is a good opportunity instead” – Giuseppe Gentile said in an interview last month.
What do you think? Will you fly on “italian airlines”? Let us know in the comments.