Air Italy (Milan Malpensa) will temporarily exit the Asian market at the beginning of the Summer 2019 season, ch-aviation analysis of schedule data, confirmed by the airline itself, has revealed.

Research indicates the Italian carrier will terminate flights from Milan Malpensa to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Thailand) from March 30 while service to Delhi International and Mumbai International (India) will cease from February 17 and March 29 respectively. All three routes are served using A330-200 equipment.

In a statement to ch-aviation, an airline spokeswoman said the withdrawal from Asia was only temporary with plans to resume flights to the Thai capital on a seasonal basis later in the year.

"Air Italy is growing and developing rapidly, focusing in particular on our Milan Malpensa hub, from which by the end of 2019 we will serve a series of new intercontinental destinations in North America and Asia, connected seamlessly to and from our domestic network across Italy," she said.

"To manage this growth, we will continue to decrease our charter focus, build up and consolidate our scheduled network, open new destinations, and reduce, cease or make seasonal those routes which require modification for the overall maximum profitability of the business."

Although no comment has been made with regards to new potential destinations in Asia, Italian government filings show Air Italy has applied for permission to run 4x weekly Italy-South Korea and 4x weekly Italy-Hong Kong International services during the Summer 2019 season.

Air Italy has also postponed the launch of its Milan Malpensa-Chicago O'Hare service, which was due to start this summer, to 2020. However, with its suppression, the airline will increase its Milan Malpensa-Toronto Pearson route from 4x weekly to 6x weekly while its Miami International service will move from 4x to 5x weekly. It will also increase select domestic Italian services to 3x daily.

Overall, with these modifications, Air Italy's international Summer 2019 network will consist of Dakar Blaise Diagne International, Accra, and Lagos in West Africa, Cairo International and Sharm el Sheikh in North Africa, and San Francisco, Los Angeles International, Miami International, New York JFK, and Toronto Pearson in North America.