After Alitalia's demise, ITA launches with new look, logo

Italy’s new national carrier ITA has made its inaugural flight and unveiled its new name and logo

Italy Airline (LaPresse)

Italy’s new national airline ITA flew its inaugural flights Friday and unveiled its brand and logo, recycling the red, white and green of its Alitalia origins as it tries to chart a new future for the troubled sector.

ITA, or Italy Air Transport officially launched after the bankrupt Alitalia landed its final flights Thursday night, ending a 74-year business history that has been marred in recent years by a series of financial crises.

The runup to Alitalia's formal demise was marked by protests and strikes because the much smaller ITA Airways is only hiring around a quarter of Alitalia's more than 10,000 employees.

ITA planes will be royal blue with Alitalia’s trademark “tricolore” on the tail. The Italian national sports team colors are blue, and company officials said Friday that the color scheme chosen for the new aircraft aims to make ITA “azzurri” — the team nickname — too.

Even though ITA paid 90 million euros (over $104 million) for the rights to the Alitalia brand and website, the new airline is called ITA Airways and has its own website and a new frequent-flier program, called “Volare” (“Fly”).