MILAN: April 06, 2016. SW Italia, part-owned by Azerbaijan-based Silk Way Airlines, has applied for an expedited U.S. Foreign Air Carrier Permit under the Open Skies Agreement with the EU to operate scheduled and charter services between Milan and points in the U.S. beginning with Chicago.

SW ltalia currently operates scheduled services with a leased 757-400 freighter between Milan Malpensa and Baku, Incheon, Hanoi and Vienna.

The airline's application to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) requests the following:

1. Permission to operate scheduled and on-demand charters between any point or points in Italy, via intermediate point or points, and any point or points in the United States and beyond.

2. Foreign scheduled and charter air transportation of cargo from any point or points behind any Member State of the European Union, via any Member State, and via intermediate points, to any point or points in the United States and beyond.

3. Foreign scheduled and charter air transportation of cargo between any point or points in the
United States and any point or points.

4. Scheduled and charter transportation authorized by any additional rights that may be made available to European Community carriers in the future.

In its filing with the DoT, SW Italia estimates its average revenue per charter flight between Milan and points on the U.S. East Coast would be US$163,200.00 at US$1.60 per kilo with an 80 percent load factor. However it also says its costs per flight would be US$275,125.00 – apparently more than the gross revenue.

Nevertheless "with the estimated 96 flights in the first year of operations, the financial result per year is estimated to constitute $1,005,600.00," according to the filing.

The carrier, majority owned by Italian Ignazio Coraci through his company Cargo Invest, told the DoT it made a net profit of US$1.1 million on revenues of US$25.2 million in 2015 – its first year of operation.