Air Italy S.p.A. is an
airlineAn airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
based in
GallarateGallarate is a city and comune of Lombardy, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 51,700....
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, operating scheduled services for tour operators within
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, to
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and
KenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, as well as independent short-haul flights. Most flights leave from either
Naples AirportNaples Airport can refer to:*Naples International Airport in Naples, Italy*Naples Municipal Airport in Naples, Florida...
, Turin Airport,
Verona AirportVerona Airport , also known as Valerio Catullo Villafranca Airport or simply Verona-Villafranca Airport is an airport located southwest of Verona, Italy...
or
Milan Malpensa AirportMilano Malpensa Airport "City of Milan" , former "Aeroporto Città di Milano" is Milan's largest airport. It is located 39.97 km northwest of central Milan, Italy...
.
History
The airline was set up in 2005 (owned by
BV Asset Management (40%), Giuseppe Gentile (40%) and Pathfinder Corporation (20%)) and started operations on 29 May of the same year with a flight from
TurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
to
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. In late 2006, an independent investment company acquired a 40% share in Air Italy. The funding of 280 million
EuroThe euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s was used to order three second-hand
Boeing 767The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
aircraft in 2007 and 2008 for services to leisure destinations in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
and the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
.
In 2007, Air Italy created Euro Mediterranean Airlines, a subsidiary based in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, which initially operated a single
Boeing 757-200The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...
, which was later replaced by a Boeing 737-800. Also in the same year,
Air Italy PolskaAir Poland Sp. z o.o. , a subsidiary of Air Italy, is a charter airline founded in 2007 and based in Warsaw, Poland, operating charter flights on behalf of Polish tour operators to a broad range of destinations across the Mediterranean region, the Caribbean and beach resorts in Thailand and India...
was set up as a second subsidiary, based in
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. In 2011 it was renamed Air Poland. In September 2009, Euro Mediterranean Airlines was planned to be rebranded as
Air Italy Egypt, but by the end of the year it had vanished due to financial difficulties.
Merger with Meridiana fly
On 18 July 2011, Meridiana fly announced the merger with Air Italy.
.
The new group will operate a fleet of 35 aircraft, becoming the main charter operator in the Italian market.
Fleet
As of May 2011, the Air Italy fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 15.8 years:
Air Italy fleet
| Aircraft |
In Service |
Passengers |
| C |
Y |
Total |
| Boeing 737-300 |
5 |
0 |
146
148 |
146
148 |
| Boeing 737-400 |
2 |
0 |
162 |
162 |
| Boeing 737-700 |
3 |
0 |
149 |
149 |
| Boeing 767-200ER |
2 |
12 |
241 |
253 |
| Boeing 767-300ER |
2 |
12
9 |
276
304 |
282
304 |
| Total |
14 |
External links