SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Alitalia has successfully completed a major IT system upgrade, which is set to generate a substantial increase in additional revenues for the airline and improve customer service.

All of Alitalia’s reservations, check-in and critical airline operations were switched at the weekend from Arco to global technology company, Sabre. The introduction of the new system is part of the overall business restructuring plan to place the airline on a sustainable commercial platform.

The new system will allow Alitalia to deliver new services and an improved customer experience to air travelers, and link in more effectively with the Etihad Airways Partner (EAP) airlines, most of which use Sabre’s industry-leading technology. Combined the EAP airlines constitute Sabre’s largest group of airline customers in the aviation industry.

The airline expects to increase revenues, estimated at some €100 million per year according to Sabre benchmarks, driven by the sale of new ancillary services, optimizing inventory and availability, and also the introduction of new routes.

The new system will also allow Alitalia to support and grow its cooperation with Etihad Airways Partners by improving inventory availability, messaging across systems, ancillary enhancements and better service provision to customers.

The project to migrate to Sabre began two years ago and has involved more than 38,000 tests, and more than 4,000 training sessions with 2,000 front line Alitalia staff.

During the weekend 950,000 passenger reservations and two million tickets were switched from Arco to Sabre.