Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane
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| Founded | 1946 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 12 January 2009 (re-branded to Alitalia – Compagnia Aerea Italiana S.p.A, later Alitalia – Società Aerea Italiana) | ||||||
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| Focus cities | Linate Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | MilleMiglia | ||||||
| Alliance | SkyTeam | ||||||
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Alitalia Express Volare Airlines |
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| Fleet size | 172 | ||||||
| Destinations | 69 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Rome, Italy | ||||||
| Key people | Augusto Fantozzi (Extraordinary administrator) | ||||||
| Website | Alitalia Amministrazione Straordinaria: Sito ufficiale delle società Alitalia, Alitalia Servizi, Alitalia Airport, Alitalia Express, Volare in Amministrazione Straordinaria (in Italian) | ||||||
Alitalia – Linee Aeree Italiane (Alitalia – Italian Air Lines), in its later stages known as Alitalia – Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. in amministrazione straordinaria (in Extraordinary Administration), was the former Italian flag carrier. Based in Rome, the company had been in precarious economic conditions for many years and was subsequently liquidated.
The Italian government and some other organizations have invested €4.9 billion since 1998. Several attempts to take over or merge Alitalia were made between 2005 and 2009. In 2006 the government could no longer offer support to the failing airline since it had been forbidden by the European Union to inject new capital. In August 2008 Alitalia went bankrupt. Compagnia Aerea Italiana (CAI) bought the Alitalia brand and some assets for €1.052 billion ($1.33 billion), paying €427 million in cash and taking on €625 million in Alitalia debts on 12 December 2008.
Alitalia – Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. was established on 16 September 1946 as Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali. It was formed as a result of an Anglo-Italian agreement and was funded by the Italian Government and British European Airways (BEA) in a 60/40 share arrangement with a capital of 900 million lire (£1,000,000). Its popular name, Alitalia, blended the Italian words ali (wings) and Italia (Italy). It started operations on 5 May 1947, in which year it carried over 10,000 passengers. The inaugural flight was with a Fiat G.12 Alcione, piloted by Virginio Reinero from Turin to Catania and Rome.
The first intercontinental flight left a year later, flying between Milan and cities in South America. The Savoia-Marchetti SM.95 four engined airliner was used on European routes up to 1949. On 31 October 1957, Alitalia merged with Linee Aeree Italiane and took on the name of Alitalia Linee Aeree Italiane. Alitalia was owned by the Italian Ministry of the Treasury (49%), other shareholders, including employees (49%) and Air France-KLM (2%, now: 25%).
By 1960 Alitalia was operating jet airliners on some European routes (the Sud Caravelle) and the Douglas DC-8 on several longer distance routes. The Vickers Viscount turbine-propellor four-engined airliner was flown by Alitalia on its European network throughout the 1960s.
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Wikipedia