The airline Aeroitalia has almost completely bought out its Romanian subcontractor Air Connect. According to the announcement, they now own 93,6 percent of the ATR72 operator.

Air Connect actually wanted to set up a route network on its own account. After several delays, a few routes were started, but these were not economically successful. The business model has increasingly shifted towards wet lease services for Aeroitalia.

For some time now, the two ATR72-600 turboprop aircraft have been flying almost exclusively on behalf of Aeroitalia. According to company information, the fleet will soon be expanded to include two more units. The fact that the Italian aviation company has now become the majority owner of Air Connect does not really come as a surprise.

It became known in the summer of 2023 that they intended to buy out the subcontractor. There were and are some disputes among the Air Connect shareholders. For example, a partner has filed for insolvency against the regional carrier. The responsible court has not yet decided on this.

It is not yet possible to predict in which direction Air Connect will develop under the Aeroitalia umbrella. Both a kind of “regional department”, i.e. the operation of turboprops, and expansion with the help of medium-haul jets are conceivable. One of the main reasons for the takeover is likely to be simple: labor costs in Romania are lower than in Italy. With regard to the development of the route network, it has long been observed that Aeroitalia is trying to focus on Italy-Romania traffic.