SW Italia To Pursue Milan-Chicago Service

SW Italia, an air all-cargo services firm headed by Ignazio Coraci, has announced that it has initiated plans to set up a Milan to Chicago line, as part of its ambitions to establish operations across the US.

Serving markets

Image of an air hangar. Ignazio Coraci discusses SW Italia's new operations.
A new operation is being pursued.

SW Italia is fast-becoming one of the most important all-cargo services in Europe. This carrier service is majority-owned by Ignazio Coraci, via his firm Cargo Invest. Ignazio recently revealed that in 2015 – its first year of operation, SW Italia earned US$1.1m in net profit, on revenue equalling US$25.2m.

The firm has maximised profitability, by developing its network to include key cargo travel destinations for the Italian market. SW Italia operates scheduled services, for example, between Milan Malpensa and Baku, Incheon, Hanoi and Vienna, via a leased 757-400 freighter. It has now applied for an expedited U.S. Foreign Air Carrier Permit to run scheduled and charter flights to key US destinations.

US flights

Freight Week, an industry portal, lists more details on the application, which has been made under the US’ Open Skies Agreement with the EU. It would start with flights between Milan and Chicago. SW Italia has also applied for permission to eventually run scheduled and on-demand charter flights between any points in Italy, through any intermediate points, to any points in the US and beyond.

SW Italia is further seeking permission to run foreign scheduled and chartered air cargo services from any EU member state, via any EU member state or intermediate points, to anywhere in the US and beyond. SW Italia also wants to supply similar services between any points in the US and any other destination. It is additionally hoping to secure authorisation for any scheduled/chartered transports according to any extra rights that may become available to European Community carriers later.

The firm broke down the profits and costs of running air cargo flights between Italy and the US in its filing. SW Italia estimates that with an 80% load factor, its average revenue for running a charter flight between Milan and various destinations on the US East Coast would be US$163,200 at US$1.60 per kilo. The cost of this service would come in at US$275,125.00, but “with the estimated 96 flights in the first year of operations, the financial result per year is estimated to constitute $1,005,600.”

Major investment

It is key to devote significant capital to business expansion operations, in order to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to allow said operations to succeed. The US is the largest economy in the world, with a lucrative air cargo transportation sector. If SW Italia’s application succeeds, it will invest heavily into making its scheduled and chartered services between Italy and the US fruitful. With this strategy, it could harness the power of the US’ booming economy, to build a lucrative revenue stream.