Air Transport

Italian leisure carrier Eurofly has moved to strengthen its position at Milan Malpensa by seeking authority to operate 14 new medium- and long-haul routes from the northern Italian airport.

Milan-based Eurofly has applied for permission from the Italian authorities to operates 37 weekly frequencies.

Specifically it is looking to serve Moscow and St Petersburg in Russia, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Tehran, Tunis, Algiers, Istanbul, Damascus, Tripoli and Tirana in Albania.

Eurofly says the move is consistent with its point-to-point route development strategy and follows new regulations covering Italian bilateral agreements with some foreign countries.

All Airbus-operator Eurofly, in which Meridiana holds a 46% stake, already operates a string of scheduled and charter flights out of Malpensa.

It marks a further move fill capacity at Malpensa, where Alitalia scaled back its operations last year.

Early next month German carrier Lufthansa will launch short-haul flights to key European business destinations from Malpensa through its new Lufthansa Italia brand.