There was a time Alitalia, which has metamorphosed in many ways, had Lagos as its regular route.
At a point in time it was Lagos to Rome flight via Kano. That was about 10 years ago. But in 2021, the bankrupt airline operated its last flight after 74 years and transmuted to Italia TrasportoAereo (ITA).
Air Italia had brief romance with the Lagos route but since the last eight years, there has not been direct passenger flight between Nigeria and Italy.
Then comes Neos Airline, privately owned Italian commercial airline headquartered in Somma Lombardo, Lombardy that operates largely Boeing B737 and Boeing B787 aircraft to over 73 scheduled domestic, European and intercontinental destinations.
By the end of October, the airline would begin flight service between Lagos and Malpensa, Milam and would kick off with one weekly flight and later three weekly flights.
Partnering with Sky Master, which will handle its operations in Nigeria, Neos Airline will rekindle that connectivity that brought Nigeria and Italy together because there is a huge Nigerian community in Italy.
Many travel observers believe that the airline will fill a vacuum left by other airlines that operated direct flight between Nigeria and Italy, noting that there are many Nigerians in Italy who are yearning to have a direct flight between the two countries. They also observed that the new entrant would make flights to Europe more competitive, which would drive down the fares.
