Atlanta will be served twice-weekly from Milan, using Cargoitalia's 90-tonne capacity MD11 freighters, arriving Monday and Thursday. Both services will operate via New York JFK, while return flights will route direct from Atlanta to Milan.
Cargotalia's new Atlanta-Milan services will be marketed by Heavyweight Air Express, which represents the airline throughout the USA. Heavyweight previously sold the airline's capacity in the Atlanta area using road feeder services to connect to its flights from Chicago. Heavyweight will also use the new flights to market Cargoitalia's Dubai and Sharjah services via its Milan hub.
Says Cargoitalia Commercial Director Roberto Gilardoni: 'Atlanta is one of the most important air cargo gateways in the USA, and therefore a must-have city in our growing network.
'The new Atlanta services open up the important Texas market with its oil-related industry, along with the rest of' the southern states. We also now have the ability to serve Miami overnight, which in turn creates potential for interline agreements with carriers serving central and south America.'
Adds City of Atlanta Mayor, Kasim Reed: 'Our freight forwarders have been asking for more airlift capacity to Europe. Cargoitalia is a world-class, all-cargo airline that meets this need, and I am confident it will serve our customers well in the years to come. Air cargo has a huge economic impact on Atlanta and the metropolitan area, and I am committed to growing this vital business sector.'
Atlanta will be the third USA destination to be added by Cargoitalia, following its introduction of New York in 2009 and Chicago in 2010. Chicago will now receive its first upgrade to direct services from Milan on Thursdays (replacing the previous routing via New York), with a continuation of flights via New York on Saturdays. New York continues with twice-weekly direct services from Milan, on Wednesday and Sunday.
Elsewhere, the airline is considering the addition of a third frequency from Milan to Shanghai subject to market conditions, and meanwhile continues to offer ad hoc freighter capacity for charters.
