In coordination with the Crisis Unit of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alitalia is putting in place a number of special flights in order to facilitate the return home for thousands of compatriots. The Italian airline will also continue to fly to the countries that have ordered restrictive measures for Italian citizens and for travellers who have stayed in Europe.

A special Alitalia flight to the Maldives will take off on the evening of Monday 16 March. To respect the Maldivian entry ban for Italians, the aircraft will make a technical stop in Cairo airport in order to alternate flight crews. In fact, pilots and flight attendants have already left for Egypt and, entering into service from Cairo, they will be able to guarantee a flight to and from Male without getting off the plane, in compliance with the aeronautical regulations on flight duty period. The Boeing 777 will arrive in the Maldives, without passengers on board, at 13:15 local time on 17 March and return at Rome Fiumicino airport is scheduled at midnight on 18 March.

In the same perspective to ensure an essential public service, Alitalia will continue to operate two daily flights to and from New York and London in order to allow Italian and foreign citizens, including many students, to return to their places of residence.

After the decision of almost all international airlines to suspend air services to and from Italy, Alitalia will continue to guarantee, unless restrictions on air traffic, international flights to and from Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Marseille, Nice, Cairo and Algiers. Alitalia will also fly on long-haul routes to and from Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Delhi, Tokyo and – until 17 March – Miami and Buenos Aires. In Italy, the airline will continue to operate at least one daily return flight to and from most of the domestic airports still open after the provisions of the Decree of the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transports.

Alitalia also reminds that, following the temporary closure of Milan Linate airport, from 16 March, it will move its operations to Terminal 2 at Milan Malpensa airport. The airline will fly from Malpensa to domestic airports such as Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Lamezia Terme, Naples, Palermo and Rome Fiumicino. Furthermore, starting from 17 March, check-in operations for all Alitalia’s domestic, international and intercontinental flights at Rome Fiumicino airport will be carried out at Terminal 3, following the temporary closure of Terminal 1.