Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea

Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (abbreviated SANA) was an Italian airline established 1925 in Genoa, concentrating on flying boat routes in the western Mediterranean area.

On 19 January 1925, ...with the Banca Commerciale Italiana (was) formed the Società Anonima di Navigazione Aerea (known as SA Navigazione Aerea) with a stock capital of Lire 1,000,000 divided over 10,000 shares each worth Lire 100. The official aim of the company was the opening of national and international air routes and operating these by seaplanes. In order to achieve this aim, the company signed in April 1925 a contract with the Italian Government for the concession of two air services: Genova – Barcelona (Spain) and Genova – Brindisi. The concession was given for a period of ten years. SA Navigazione Aerea could count on a subsidy for 640,000 kilometres per year. A second treaty was signed on 20 November 1925, which regulated the terms and conditions under which the SA Navigazione Aerea could operate. The first air service scheduled to open would be from Genova to Roma, Napoli and Palermo on the island of Sicilia (Sicily).Rob Mulder

The initial route, Genoa, Rome, Naples, Palermo was started on April 7, 1926. The seaplanes utilized were built in Marina di Pisa under license from Dornier.

SANA in 1929 started to market its air service with Italian names: the air route to Barcelona (Spain) was called Freccia del Mediterraneo (Arrow of the Mediterranean), the air route between Genova and Palermo was called Freccia Verde (Green Arrow) and the one for the Roma – Tripoli air service was named Freccia Rossa (Red Arrow). One year later the international route to Barcelona was renamed Freccia Azzurra (Sky-blue Arrow).

In 1929 was started with the Imperial Airways a route between Italy and Egypt, that was associated with the British imperial flight to India.

According to Rob Mulder, in 1931 -for the number of passengers carried- the best service (with 2,262) was the one between Rome and Genova, followed by Roma – Napoli – Palermo with 2,540 passengers. The link from Syracuse to Libia Italiana and the city of Tripoli was also a popular one and good for 1,392 passengers and 3,876 kg of mail.

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