Cargoitalia ' the Italian all-cargo airline being re-launched under the new ownership of ALIS ' has completed its management line-up with the appointment of Roberto Gilardoni as Commercial Director.

Gilardoni has 15 years' experience in transportation, and has held various senior posts including Head of Global Operations Performance for DHL, working extensively in Asia, Middle East and the Americas. Before this he was Hub and Gateway Manager for DHL Aviation, covering Turkey, Russia, Israel and Portugal. Most recently, he was Managing Director - Cargo for Brescia Airport, responsible for developing the airport's cargo activities. He holds a degree in Engineering, specializing in Transportation.

In his new post, Gilardoni is responsible for Cargoitalia's marketing and sales, network development, and the appointment of general sales agents, handling agents and other service partners.

Gilardoni completes a senior management line-up comprising Alcide Leali (Chairman and CEO), Giacomo Manzon (Managing Director), Stefano Barone (Industry Director), Gabriele Cori (CFO), Angelo Boscolo (Flight Operations) and Danilo Zenari (Maintenance).

Says Giacomo Manzon: 'We are delighted to complete our launch team with the arrival of Roberto Gilardoni. His considerable industry experience and thorough knowledge of the cargo sector will greatly assist us in establishing the new Cargoitalia both in Italy and in our overseas markets.'

Adds Gilardoni: 'Italian air cargo has gone through a turbulent period, but the launch of the new Cargoitalia restores long-awaited Italian-owned pure-freight capacity to the market. I am very pleased to be a key player in this exciting new venture.'

Cargoitalia is about to take delivery of its first MD11 freighter, which will commence operations in late May, flying twice weekly Milan (Malpensa) ' New York ' Toronto ' Milan ' Abu Dhabi ' Milan. Two more MD11 freighters are scheduled for delivery later in 2009.

The new Cargoitalia is the result of amalgamating the original Cargoitalia (which suspended operations in 2008) with the recently purchased Alitalia full Cargo business. Cargoitalia's new owners are ALIS (Aerolinee Italiane S.p.A.' ' 66.7%) and Intesa SanPaolo (33.3%). ALIS in turn is owned by the Leali family (62%), other private investors (eight percent), and Ricerca S.p.A . (Benetton), Selin S.p.A. (van den Heuvel) and Banca Intermobiliare, each having 10% stakes.