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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nROME (Reuters) – Air Italy will start flying to Chicago next year, a move likely to revive a dispute between its minority shareholder Qatar Airways and U.S rivals trying to squeeze Gulf operators out of their domestic market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Formerly known as Meridiana, Air Italy is the country’s second-largest airline, behind ailing Alitalia [CAITLA.UL], and state-owned Qatar Airways holds a 49 percent stake in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air Italy will fly to Chicago three times a week from Milan Malpensa airport starting from May 14, 2019, Chief Operating Officer Rossen Dimitrov told Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2015 the largest U.S carriers — Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), American Airlines Group (AAL.O) and United Airlines (UAL.N) — have argued their Gulf rivals are being unfairly subsidised by their governments, distorting competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gulf airlines have always denied those accusations and in May the companies reached a voluntary agreement, saying they would not add new flights to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Air Italy has been flying to New York and Miami since June and will start serving San Francisco and Los Angeles from April 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That has drawn criticism from an alliance of U.S.-based airlines grouped in the “Partnership for Open & Fair Skies”, that Qatar Airways is using Air Italy to offer additional flights between the U.S. and Europe, despite the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Once again, Qatar is using Air Italy as a Trojan horse built from subsidized cash to avoid its commitments to the Trump administration and launch new … routes,” said Scott Reed, campaign manager for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an emailed statement, Reed called on U.S. President Donald Trump to intercede on the behalf of U.S. airlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dimitrov tried to dismiss any suggestion that Air Italy was acting improperly, noting that Qatar Airways was a minority shareholder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They do not dictate what we do and where we go. They do not manage us,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that he would be happy to work with the U.S airlines under code-share agreements, from which both sides would benefit, “rather than spending time and money fighting each other”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opening of the Chicago route next year is part of a wider plan, announced in May, in which the airline aims to grow its fleet and passenger numbers fourfold by 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n