Volare Airlines
| Volare SpA | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
| IATA code : | VE |
| ICAO code : | VLE |
| Call sign : | VOLA |
| Founding: | 1997 |
| Operation stopped: | 2015 |
| Seat: |
Milan , Italy
|
| Home airport : | Milan Malpensa |
| Company form: | Spa |
| IATA prefix code : | 263 |
| Frequent Flyer Program : | MilleMiglia |
| Fleet size: | 49 |
| Aims: | National and international |
| Volare SpA ceased operations in 2015. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Volare SpA was an Italian airline based in Milan and a subsidiary of Alitalia .
history
1997 - foundation
Volare Airlines was founded in 1997 by a group of northern Italian entrepreneurs in Thiene and started charter flights with Airbus A320 aircraft on April 3, 1998 . Within a very short time, the route network could be expanded to various destinations in Western and Central Europe as well as in the Mediterranean region . Due to the good business development, it was decided in 1999 to also offer scheduled flights , especially between the Italian mainland and Sardinia . From the hubs in Venice , Milan and Rome , scheduled flights to a number of destinations in Italy and Europe were soon offered.
In August 2000 the holding Volare Group was founded, under whose roof Volare Airlines and the newly acquired charter airline Air Europe also operated . Air Europe was founded in 1989 and offered charter and scheduled flights to the Caribbean and East Africa until the end of 2008 . In 2003 the Volare Group had almost 1,400 employees and a total of 24 aircraft. In the charter sector, it was the market leader in Italy with a market share of 38%.
2003 - realignment
In the context of the crisis in the aviation industry following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , the first problems in the traditional business area also arose at Volare Airlines. Since the low-cost airlines were also making profits in Europe , the Volare Group decided to set up its own low-cost airline. Volareweb.com was founded on February 5, 2003 and began flight operations on March 30, 2003. Due to the success in this business area, the entire flight business of Volare Airlines was taken over by Volareweb.com a few months later .
However, competition in the Italian low-cost flight segment was set to intensify: on January 28, 2004, the established low-cost airline Ryanair added Rome-Ciampino to its flight program alongside Milan-Bergamo as the second Italian base and focused on rock-bottom prices. In 2004 Volareweb.com could not take advantage of the crisis of the Italian national airline Alitalia and found itself in financial distress. The crisis at Volareweb.com became clear in a few weeks in October 2004: After new routes had been announced for October 31, 2004 on September 15 and most recently on September 24, the plan for one of these new routes was made on October 12 ( Milan - Bucharest ) abandoned. From October 16, 2004, the connections to Germany were suspended, although the passengers were only informed of this the evening before.
On November 19, 2004, the Volare Group (including Air Europe) ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy . As a result, the airline's license was withdrawn for a month. As in the case of Alitalia, the Italian government provided indirect aid for a fresh start. On June 1, 2005, Volareweb.com resumed flight operations to Naples , Bari , Brindisi and Catania with initially two Airbus A320-200s from Milan Linate . Air Europe also started with long-haul flights again.
2005 - takeover by Alitalia
In December 2005 a takeover battle for the Volare Group began , which Alitalia won against the bitter resistance of Air One . All the companies in the Volare Group and the holding company itself were taken over on April 14, 2006 by the new joint stock company Volare SpA , owned by Alitalia. Until January 12, 2009, low-cost flights to Italian and European destinations were offered from Milan-Malpensa under the brand name Volareweb.com . Air Europe continued to take care of the long-haul area, although it ceased operations in December 2008. Since then, the planes of Volare SpA have only been used in the Alitalia route network under their name.
In February 2015 the company was dissolved and integrated into Alitalia, including the fleet.
fleet
Most recently, in February 2015, the Volare Airlines fleet consisted of an Airbus A320-200 aircraft operated for Alitalia . In total, Volare Airlines operated a total of 49 aircraft during its time:
- 33 Airbus A320-200
- 3 Airbus A321-200
- 7 Airbus A330-200
- 2 Boeing 757-200
- 3 Boeing 767-300
- 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-83
Incidents
On May 5, 2006, among other things, an Airbus A320-200 burned out in a hangar at Brussels-Zaventem Airport , and a Lockheed C-130 from the Belgian Air Force and three Airbus A320 from Hellas Jet , Armavia and Armenian International Airways were also affected by the fire .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung: Low-cost airline Volare discontinues flights to Berlin May 28, 2006
- ↑ ch-aviation.com - Alitalia cancels CAI First and Second's AOCs (English) March 20, 2015
- ↑ Ch-aviation : Fleet (English), accessed on February 26, 2015
- ↑ Volare Airlines fleet details , accessed July 25, 2015
- ↑ Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
| Current | ||
| Former |
