Italian startup EGO Airways outlines

Rome: Italian regional start-up airline EGO Airways has announced that it intends to begin flying a point-to-point network of routes between various Italian cities.

Initially, the airline will commence operations with two Embraer E190s based at Forli Luigi Ridolfi Airport (FRL) in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and Catania Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) on the island of Sicily.

EGO Airways’ long-term goal is to partner with other airlines by providing a feeder service to Milan Malpensa (MXP), the largest airport in northern Italy serving the administrative regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, and Liguria. According to Planespotters.net, EGO Airways currently only has one 12.8-year-old Embraer E190-100LR owned by WDL Aviation.

Tickets are already on sale for the airlines’ three classes of service. However, flights will not begin until March 25 with twice-daily flights between its two bases Forli and Catania.

From March 28, EGO Airways will add flights from Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport (BRI) to Florence Airport (FLR) and Florence Airport to Parma Airport (PMF). Each of the three routes will be served by eight weekly flights. On March 30, EGO Airways will launch three more routes between Lamezia Terme International Airport (SUF) and Florence, Forli, and Palma, with six flights per week.

For the summer, EGO Airways will roll out four new routes on June 4 with 12 flights per week between Catania Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) and Florence Airport (FLR). June will also see the introduction of a twice-daily service between CTA and PMF. Florence and Cagliari airports will also have new EGO Airways flights to Milan Bergamo (BGY) and Rome Fiumicino (FCO).

The routes EGO Airways has chosen are good as the only competition they will face is from Air Dolomiti and Spain’s Vueling Airlines on flights between Catania and Florence.

EGO Airlines was born in 2019 and was the brainchild of three Italian entrepreneurs with years of experience in the aviation business. The airline describes itself as a fully Italian airline that will allow customers to cherry-pick their flight experience from a tailor-made website. On the site, not only can customers select which class of service they would like to fly but book extras like a limousine service to and from the airport and even hotels for a romantic weekend. While aiming to create an authentic Italian savoir-faire feeling, the airline will also offer gourmet food made from the freshest local ingredients.

When speaking about the new start-up, Marco Busca, EGO Airways’ President said on the company website: “More than a year ago, along with my father and the other OCP partners, we decided to invest in EGO Airways, strongly convinced of the high growth potentials of this project. A project, that today more than ever, I reckon innovative and winning, as all other realities of the industry have confirmed, and not only, to who we presented it. And now, after these months full of work and commitment, I am first of all proud: proud to have taken on the challenge of a start-up and as well proud of the fantastic team we have created. Thanks to my role of investor, and of president, and accountable manager, I am currently involved first hand in the airline’s operations, and I can confirm that our goal is to bring EGO Airways, in five years, to be a benchmark for the Italian aviation at international level.”

The prices for EGO Airways flights are based primarily on seating options and baggage allowances. All three classes of service can then be personalized further by purchasing ancillary products during the booking process. Add on products include food and drink, specially designed gift boxes, and the transport of pets in the cabin for smaller pets and the hold for larger animals. “JUST GO” prices start from €48 while “JUST GO LOUNGE” prices start at €98.

EGO Airways prices seem to be very competitive and, with a distinctly Italian flare, it could become a big hit with Italian and international passengers flying domestically within Italy. The big test for EGO Airways will be to find partner airlines that operate out of Milan to codeshare with.