In a major step forward for the reincarnated Italian airline Air Italy, the airline flew its first ever flight in its new branding from its home base at Milan’s Malpensa Airport to New York’s JFK Airport. The joint venture between Alisarda, the controlling shareholder, and Qatar Airways aims to displace Alitalia, Italy’s current national carrier that has been plagued with financial problems, as the airline of Italy.

Operating an Air Italy branded Airbus A330-200 from Qatar Airways, which has a 49 percent stake in the airline, ISS901 departed Malpensa shortly before 2:30 p.m. local time, flying nearly 9 hours before landing at JFK Airport at 4:00 p.m. The flight to New York was delayed an hour due to a sick passenger but went smoothly other than that.