Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea - abbreviated SANA - was an Italian airline established in 1925 in Genoa, operating routes in the Mediterranean area with only flying boats. Its origins lie in the Società Anonima Italiana Costruzioni Meccaniche, a seaplane manufacturer during World War I. The SANA's president was Rinaldo Piaggio, already owner of the company of that same name.
History
For over a year after its founding, the company negotiated with the Italian government for an air transport license. This goal was achieved when the company signed a contract in April 1925 for the concession of two services: Genoa-Barcelona (Spain) and Genoa-Brindisi. SANA's first flights began on April 7, 1926, on the Genoa-Ostia seaplane base (for Rome)-Naples-Palermo route with Dornier Do J "Wal" aircraft. The seaplanes utilized were built by CMASA under license from Dornier in Marina di Pisa (Pisa province) plant. Subsequently, the airline opened other routes: Ostia-Siracusa-Malta-Tripoli on November 1, 1929, Genoa-Marseille-Barcelona shortly thereafter, Ostia-Naples-Corfu-Athens-Rhodes-Tobruk-Alexandria on April 11, 1929, and Palermo-Tunis on December 19, 1929. Noticeable, the route between Italy and Egypt connected with the Imperial Airways network, meaning the British flight towards India.
Later, the Dornier Do R "Super Wal" also entered SANA fleet, and the company entertained the possibility of purchasing the Dornier Do X. In 1929 SANA started to market its air services with Italian names: the air route to Barcelona (Spain) was called Freccia del Mediterraneo (arrow of the Mediterranean), the air route between Genoa and Palermo was called Freccia Verde (green arrow) and the Rome–Tripoli air service was named Freccia Rossa (red arrow). One year later the international route to Barcelona was renamed Freccia Azzurra sky-blue arrow).
According to the aforementioned Rob Mulder, in 1931 - in terms of passengers carried - the best service (with 2,262 passengers) was the one between Rome and Genoa, followed by Rome–Naples–Palermo with 2,540 passengers. The link from Siracusa to the city of Tripoli (in those years Libya was dominated by Italy) was also a popular one and good for 1,392 passengers and 3,876 kgs of mail.
In 1934, the airline merged with Aero Espresso Italiana, SISA-Società Italiana Servizi Aerei and SAM-Società Aerea Mediterranea, to form Ala Littoria, the pre-WWII flag airline of Italy.
Fleet
19 x Dornier Do J "Wal" (12 passengers) 6 x Dornier Do R "Super Wal" (12 passengers) Dornier Do X (66 passengers, 2 options)
See also List of defunct airlines of Italy
References
Further reading
External links Timetable images Seaplanes over the italian seas Fleet list