In a copyright infringement case brought by Italian flag carrier ITA Airways against the “new kid on the block” Aeroitalia, the Luthansa-controlled carrier scored an early win last week when the judge ordered Aeroitalia to stop using their name, logo, and color scheme as it is considered too similar to the old Alitalia branding.
During Alitalia’s bankruptcy procedure, ITA Airways paid around 220 million Euros (approx. $258m) to maintain ownership of Alitalia’s logo, IATA flight code AZ, and IATA accounting code 055. However, while IATA codes are currently being used for ITA Airways’ operations, the traditional red, white, and green Alitalia logo is not currently portrayed on the fuselage of its aircraft, except for an “Inspired by Alitalia” inscription on one of its newest Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
The lawsuit will not see a final resolution until late in 2026, but as the court is forcing Aeroitalia to stop trading under its current name, CEO Gaetano Intrieri has announced in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica that his airline will revive the Air Italy brand.
“I registered the Air Italy trademark and chose this new name,” he told La Repubblica.
Air Italy was a short-lived carrier formally based in Olbia, Sardinia, that was born rising from the ashes of Meridiana with a troublesome 49% equity ownership by Qatar Airways. They operated between 2018 and 2020 with a fleet of up to 12 aircraft from their hub in Milan Malpensa Airport to 26 short- and long-haul destinations, including New York JFK, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
The ruling is requesting Aeroitalia to adapt its name and trademark starting Jan. 1, 2026. “That’s basically the day after tomorrow – says Intrieri – The deadline is too close and impractical. This is why we are talking with ITA Airways’ lawyers to agree on an appropriate, reasonable path. The atmosphere between us and ITA is very positive.”
Air Italy Wants to Play the Slots
While Intrieri is conceding that ITA Airways has won the logo battle, he is ready to fight back with a complaint filed both to the Italian Antitrust Authority and to the EU Commission in Brussels, claiming that the procedure that assigned all the slots formerly held by Alitalia at Milan’s Linate Airport to ITA Airways was anticompetitive.
“From its first day in business, ITA Airways claimed to be a completely new company,” ITA said, in short, ‘I am not the heir of Alitalia, I do not operate as a continuity partner of Alitalia.’ So, if ITA is truly a new entity compared to Alitalia, as it claims, it had no right to inherit Alitalia’s slots at a strategic airport like Linate.”
Linate is a city airport strategically located just outside the city limits of Milan, and it is largely preferred by business passengers due to its proximity to the business center of Italy’s economic capital. Furthermore, in 2024, the subway line M4 connecting the city center with Linate Airport has been completed making the airport even more attractive to citizens and visitors alike.
Capacity at the single-runway facility has been artificially limited for almost 30 years in order to facilitate the development of Malpensa Airport, which is located almost 50 km (30 miles) north-east of Milan. Traffic is limited to 18 movements per hour, there is a 1500-kilometer (810 nautical miles) perimeter rule, and only single-aisle aircraft are allowed to operate.
“We will ask whether ITA has a dominant position at Milan Linate, as we suspect, and whether it had the legal right to receive so many slots at that airport. We believe that Alitalia’s slots should be returned to Assoclearance, the public regulator, to be redistributed equitably to all airlines, based on waiting lists.”
