The inaugural of Alitalia new direct service to Beijing took off from Rome Fiumicino Airport on 28 July.
The Italian flag-carrier suspended its Beijing connection three years ago, but the four times a week A330 service is being regarded by the airline as a significant step forward.
Alitalia’s chief executive, Cramer Ball, commented at the time of the inaugural: “We have introduced a trio of new intercontinental routes from Rome in 2016 and today’s new service to Beijing joins the recently launched destinations of Santiago and Mexico City.
“Alitalia is committed totally to the Chinese market and wants to grow its presence in China.
“We are a different company than a few years ago: we have made major investments for enhancing products and services; we have put in place important commercial agreements with Chinese partners and we have a strong industrial partnership which supports us in this challenge.
“The new service to the Chinese capital city is an important investment for Alitalia as part of our strategic growth to serve long-haul destinations for the benefit of business and leisure travellers.”
Plus: “Italian exports to China will have the opportunity to rise the air link should encourage the number of tourists from the Far East to Italy,” Ball observed.
The A330 aircraft serving the route will offer a monthly cargo capacity of 300 tonnes.
Alitalia's Far East network from Rome now includes 22 weekly services to and from Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul.
China, the world’s second largest economy after the US, has close commercial ties with Italy. The latter’s primary exports to China come from the engineering, fashion, automobile and pharmaceutical sectors.
In the food industry, Italy is China’s leading supplier of chocolate and pasta, its second-biggest supplier of olive oil, mineral water and sparkling wines.
