According to a former consulting buddy who now works in a top level position within the European aviation industry, Alitalia will officially be pulling out of Milan-Malpensa (MXP) airport. Apparently, the carrier will continue to operate domestic flights from nearby Milan Linate (LIN). Meanwhile, all international flights will operate non-stop via Rome or via an Abu Dhabi / Etihad connection.

The change seems almost counterintuitive as for years the rumors have been the complete opposite – the carrier would pull out of tourist heavy Rome (besides a few seasonal summer flights) and would instead focus on the higher revenue business traffic to Milan. This change would mark the end of Alitalia’s Milan service to both New York and Tokyo.

The airport itself would continue to have multiple flights to the US, a very large European presence, and non-stop international flights to Hong Kong (Cathay), São Paulo (LATAM), Delhi (Air India), Shanghai (Air China), and Zanzibar (Neos) among others.

I haven’t been able to validate the rumor with a second source and a simple search currently only brings up an Airliners.net thread started by VCEflyboy.