ITA Airways, the new state-owned Italian flag carrier that has replaced bankrupt Alitalia is replacing it in other ways, too, taking its spot in the SkyTeam alliance led by Delta and AirFrance/KLM.
The move was not unexpected, because it’s difficult these days for any international airline to operate outside one of the Big Three alliances that help funnel connecting passengers to its home cities and other destinations as well as allowing it to sell tickets to destinations it doesn’t serve.
It’s also good news for members of other SkyTeam airlines’ loyalty programs, who will have access to ITA flights as awards. ITA has launched a new loyalty program, Volare, whose points will also be usable for flights on other alliance members’ flights. Unusually, SkyTeam awards are still available to holders of points from the old Alitalia MilleMiglia loyalty program; it appears that their points did not die with the airline.
