Air Italy (2018)
| Air Italy | |
|---|---|
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| IATA code : | IG |
| ICAO code : | ISS |
| Call sign : | AIR ITALY |
| Founding: | March 25, 1963 (as Alisarda) |
| Operation stopped: | February 11, 2020 (own flight operations) / February 25, 2020 (all flights) |
| Seat: |
Olbia , Italy
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| Turnstile : | |
| Home airport : | Olbia airport |
| Company form: | Spa |
| IATA prefix code : | 191 |
| Management: | Marco Rigotti ( CEO ) |
| Number of employees: | 1400 |
| Passenger volume: | 4.6 million (2010) |
| Frequent Flyer Program : | Meridiana Club |
| Fleet size: | 12 (+ 17 orders) |
| Aims: | National and international |
| Website: | www.airitaly.it |
| Air Italy has ceased operations February 11, 2020 (own flight operations) / February 25, 2020 (all flights) . The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Air Italy ( Meridiana until March 2018 ), originally founded as Alisarda , was an Italian airline based in Olbia and based at Milan Malpensa Airport . The company ceased its own flight operations on February 11, 2020, on February 25, 2020 all flights were suspended and the company dissolved.
The company was 100% owned by AQA Holding, which was 51% owned by Alisarda and 49% by Qatar Airways .
history
Alisarda
Foundation and first years
The airline Alisarda , financed exclusively with private capital, was founded on March 29, 1963 on the initiative of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV. With the initial aim of promoting the development of tourism on the Costa Smeralda in northeastern Sardinia, which until then had only been done by sea could be achieved.
The airline started operations in 1964 from Olbia-Venafiorita Airport . In the first year she carried 186 passengers with eight-seat Beechcraft C-45s . After acquiring two Nord 262s with 26 seats, Alisarda began air connections from Rome and Milan to Olbia in 1966 , and with the gradual increase in tourism to Sardinia, Alisarda made new investments. The Nord 262 were replaced by larger Fokker F-27s and the previously unpaved runway from Venafiorita was adapted to the new requirements and provided with a cement and bitumen surface . During this time, the connection network was also extended to other airports such as Cagliari , Genoa , Turin , Bologna and Pisa . At that time, Meridiana carried around 5,640 passengers annually. In 1968, the threshold of 20,000 passengers was finally passed.
Jet age
In 1974 the Fokker F-27s were exchanged for two Douglas DC-9-14s . Alisarda's first jet aircraft began service with the opening of the new Olbia Airport . As part of the new airport facility, Alisarda also built a large hangar , the equipment of which enabled the airline to take over the technical service of its aircraft itself. After taking over the DC-9, the routes were extended abroad. New destinations were Geneva , Zurich , Paris-Charles de Gaulle , Frankfurt and Düsseldorf . The route network was also expanded within Italy with flights to Naples and Palermo .
It was not until 1990 that the license was also obtained for mainland Italy and was able to compete with Alitalia . The first connections were from Rome to Milan, Venice, Catania and Palermo.
Meridiana
Fusion with the Spanish Meridiana
Meridiana was created on April 9, 1990 from the merger of the three Spanish airlines LA Canarias , UniversAir and Euravia . The Spanish company used a Boeing 737-300 and five McDonnell Douglas MD-83 on national scheduled flights as well as in international charter traffic (IT charter).
With the participation of Aga Khan , Alisarda merged with the Spanish company on April 1, 1991, taking on its name. The company's initial fleet consisted of three BAe 146-200s , six Douglas DC-9-51s, and ten McDonnell Douglas MD-80s . While Meridiana ceased its flight operations in Spain on October 16, 1992 for economic reasons, the new company was able to further expand its shares in the Italian travel market.
In 1997, Alitalia offered the Meridiana a codeshare agreement .
Development since 2000
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After Meridiana carried over three million passengers in 2000, the number of passengers dropped by up to 25 percent after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 . By 2003, however, the company had recovered.
In 2006 Meridiana took a 30 percent stake in Eurofly , also an Italian company , and the merger of the two airlines was announced in November 2009 . Then they operated together on the basis of the previous Meridiana under the new name Meridiana fly .
In February 2011, Meridiana fly negotiated a possible merger with the largest Italian airline Alitalia . In spring 2013, however, Alitalia responded to pressure from the European Commission and announced that there would be no merger. In July 2011, Meridiana took over fly Air Italy at a price of 89.9 million euros .
In January 2013, the Italian aviation authority Meridiana fly withdrew its permanent operating license for economic reasons until further notice, which was replaced by an annual one. At the same time it became known that the subsidiary Air Italy would be fully integrated into Meridiana fly in the near future. A few weeks later it was announced that Meridiana fly will operate under the name Meridiana again in the future . At the same time as the renaming to Meridiana and the abandonment of Air Italy's branding, it was announced that in future it would no longer operate in the low-price segment , but would rather position itself as a scheduled airline at normal prices.
In July 2014, Meridiana announced that it would retire all Airbus and McDonnell Douglas aircraft by the end of the year in order to operate a uniform Boeing fleet from now on.
In June 2015, Qatar Airways carried out a due diligence review and expressed fundamental interest in becoming a partner in Meridiana. On July 14, 2016, Qatar Airways acquired 49% of Meridiana.
On April 24, 2017, Akbar Al Bakar, CEO of Qatar Airways , stated at a press conference that he intended to provide a total of 20 737 MAX 8s for Meridiana from the letter of intent for 60 Boeing 737 MAXs . The first delivery is planned for 2018. Qatar Airways has also ordered 30 787-9s for long-haul flights for Meridiana. First delivery is planned for May 2019. It is desirable to rename the airline to Air Italy . The name change took place on March 1, 2018, whereby the subsidiary Air Italy returned its Air Operator Certificate and was merged with Meridiana. In the summer of 2018, Milan-Malpensa Airport became the airline's new main hub . The company management and aircraft maintenance will remain in Olbia.
On February 11, 2020, the shareholders decided to liquidate the airline, its own flight operations were discontinued with immediate effect; in a transition period until February 25, 2020, the flights were operated by other airlines.
Destinations
Air Italy connected several destinations within Italy and offered flights to Africa , Europe and North America . Meridiana aircraft were also used for deportation flights from German airports.
In German-speaking countries no goals were served.
fleet
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When operations ceased in February 2020, Air Italy's fleet consisted of 12 aircraft with an average age of 14.1 years:
| Aircraft type | number | ordered | Remarks | Seats ( Business / Economy ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A330-200 | 4th | leased from Qatar Airways | 260 (24/236) | |
| Boeing 737-700 | 1 | 148 (- / 148) | ||
| Boeing 737-800 | 4th | equipped with winglets ; partly with sky interior | 189 (- / 189) | |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 3 | 17th | Delivery from May 2018; all inactive | 186 (- / 186) |
| total | 12 | 17th | ||
See also
Web links
- Air Italy website (including Italian, German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annual Report 2010 (PDF; 4.6 MB)
- ↑ This is how Meridiana attacks as Air Italy. AeroTelegraph, February 20, 2018.
- ↑ Company information history meridiana.it, accessed on February 27, 2018 (English)
- ↑ JP airline-fleets international, Edition 91/92
- ↑ Leisure Airlines of Europe, K. Vomhof, 2001
- ↑ Meridiana is buying a 29.9% stake in Italian leisure carrier Eurofly , accessed on February 26, 2018
- ↑ airliners.de - Alitalia and Meridiana Fly before merger ?, February 16, 2011
- ↑ ch-aviation - Alitalia denies tie up talks with Meridiana as EC rules for Ryanair (English), accessed on May 20, 2013
- ↑ austrianaviation.net - Meridiana Fly and Air Italy merge, July 20, 2011
- ↑ airliners.de - news from all over the world week 04/2013, January 25, 2013
- ↑ ch-aviation - Air Italy to be merged into Meridiana fly from February , accessed on February 16, 2013
- ↑ ch-aviation - Meridiana drops "fly" brand name, Air Italy to become ACMI provider (English), accessed March 29, 2013
- ↑ aerotelegraph.com - Meridiana stamps Air Italy, April 22, 2013
- ↑ ch-aviation - Italy's Meridiana to phase out A320s, MD-8Xs this year (English), accessed July 22, 2014
- ↑ ch-aviation - Qatar Airways confirms interest in Italy's Meridiana , accessed on June 1, 2015
- ↑ Laura Frommberg: Qatar grabs second European participation. In: aerotelegraph.com. July 14, 2016, accessed July 14, 2016 .
- ^ A b Reuters - Qatar Airways closes in on Italy deal, to own minority stake in Indian airline, April 24, 2017 , accessed on May 25, 2017
- ↑ Meridiana is to become Air Italy. AeroTelegraph, November 9, 2017.
- ↑ Ch-Aviation, Meridiana fly confirms AirItaly rebranding, plots growth (in English), accessed on February 26, 2018
- ↑ ilgiornale.it, Air Italy ridà motore all'aeroporto di Malpensa (Italian), accessed on September 7, 2018
- ↑ Grounding: Air Italy suspends all flights. In: aeroTELEGRAPH. February 11, 2020, accessed on February 11, 2020 (Swiss Standard German).
- ↑ meridiana.it - flight plan accessed on May 25, 2017
- ^ Protests against deportation flights to Afghanistan deutschlandfunk.de, February 20, 2018
- ↑ a b Air Italy Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. Retrieved February 11, 2020 .
- ↑ airitaly.com - The fleet accessed on May 12, 2018
