Volare Airlines was an air transport company founded in 1997. Acquired by Alitalia in 2006, it merged with Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana in 2015.
History
Foundation and early activities Gino Zoccai and former military pilot Vincenzo Soddu established the basis of Volare Airlines SpA between the end of 1997 and the beginning of the following year. Both had the initial support of the tour operator Brevitour, specialized in religious tourism. The first flights - charters only - began on 3 April 1998, departing from Bergamo and Milan-Malpensa airports. On August 28 of that same year, Sair Group (Swissair flag airline owner) became a shareholder, with a 34% stake. This push allowed for the first scheduled flights which began on May 15, 1999. Also included were the lucrative routes from Milan (indeed Bergamo airport) and Rome to Sardinia Island capital, Cagliari.Air Transport Intelligence, "World Airline Directory 1999", Flight International weekly magazine supplement, Reed Business Information Ltd., Sutton (Surrey), U.K. In 2000, the two partners acquired Air Europe, the then-Italian leader in the charter flight market. This created the Volare Group, a holding company that controlled two airlines. The Group had its headquarters in Thiene (north of Vicenza city) and the management and charter offices in Milan."Contact us." Volareweb.com. Retrieved on 8 February 2011. "HEADQUARTER Corso Garibaldi, 186 - 36016 Thiene (VI) - ITALY." "COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT Via Pirelli, 20 - 20124 Milano - ITALY" and "CHARTER MANAGEMENT Via Pirelli, 20 - 20124 Milano - ITALY" To maintain control of the Group, the owners implemented a significant capital increase, including the participation of several major banks. At one time Volare Group operated flights from Italy to London (Luton Airport), Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, and Romania.
The 2001 crisis
The air transport crisis triggered by the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York led to the bankruptcy of Swissair. The company's shares were then bought back by Zoccai for approximately €uros 50 million. However, debts mounted, and the entrepreneur agreed to give up his majority stake. Auditors KPMG examined the company's accounts and confirmed its precarious conditions. In 2003, the idea was born to transform Volare Airlines into Italy's first low-cost airline, renaming it Volareweb coinciding with the summer schedule (from 30 March) and operating both A320 and A321 twinjets.G. Endres (editor) & Air Transport Intelligence, "World Airlines 2004", Flight International weekly magazine directory, U.K. A liquidity crisis arose around this same time, and the severity of the situation led to the suspension of operations of the two companies in the Volare Group on November 19, 2004.
The 2004 extraordinary administration and following transformations
The airline suspended its operations on November 19, 2004, and filed for bankruptcy. The causes of the crisis included major financial difficulties and the unavailability of a large part of the fleet (expired contracts but also aircraft seized by their owners). On November 30, Volare Group S.p.A., Volare Airlines S.p.A., and Air Europe S.p.A. were admitted to the extraordinary administration procedure for large insolvent companies. The Group was put up for sale by the Italian Government in December 2004. On May 28, 2005, the extraordinary commissioner Carlo Rinaldini filed a report with the Bankruptcy Registry of the Court of Busto Arsizio, detailing the causes of insolvency.
By mid-2005, but to a limited number of destinations, operations had resumed with two Airbus A.320s in the Volareweb livery and an Air Europe Boeing 767-300ER. In the meanwhile the extraordinary commissioner was in the process of restructuring the companies, pending the auction. In 2006, amidst considerable controversy and several appeals, including that of Air One, Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane acquired the Volare Group on April 14 (38 million €uros was the winning bid,Italy puts low-cost airline Volare up for sale - Alitalia) and renamed it Volare S.p.A."Profile." Volareweb.com. 11 January 2007. Retrieved on 8 February 2011. Immediately after, Volareweb and Air Europe merged under a single Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and on 15 May all the Volare Group employees were transferred to Volare SpA.
In the spring of 2007, the airline attempted a relaunch by adding two new Airbus A.320s, strengthening its low-cost flight network with new destinations to and from Milan-Malpensa, eliminating Milan-Linate, and competing on some routes with other established low-cost airlines.G. Endres (editor) & Air Transport Intelligence, "World Airlines 2007", Flight International weekly magazine supplement, Reed Business Information Ltd., Sutton (Surrey), U.K., By May 2008, Volare flew to 20 destinations in Europe while the charter subsidiary Air Europe flew to other long-haul destinations. As of 1 January 2008, Volareweb was an integral part of Alitalia-LAI and was operating as a low-cost subsidiary. Furthermore, due to Alitalia-LAI's hub switch from Milan-Malpensa to Rome-Fiumicino, several flights from the largest airport in Lombardy were transferred to Volare. In compliance with the agreements for Alitalia-CAI - Air One merger in early 2009, these flights ceased and Alitalia-CAI adopted Air One as a subsidiary for low-fare flights.The new Alitalia is using Air One for leisure operations at Milan Malpensa (french) Only one Airbus A320 coming from parent Alitalia-CAI remained in the fleet to preserve the slots. Scheduled operations were scaled back in November 2008, while the last charter flight was operated in December and Air Europe was discontinued.Air Europe information
Another transformation and the merger with Alitalia
Shortly thereafter, Volare S.p.A. entered extraordinary administration along with Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane, and, as of January 9, 2009, sales of remaining Volareweb flights were suspended, informing passengers that after March 28, flights would be operated by Alitalia - Compagnia Aerea Italiana or Air One.
On January 13, the newly established Alitalia-CAI acquired Volare's assets and its AOC through CAI-Second S.p.A., a "paper company", operating flights for its parent company. It then ceased operating with its own personnel and livery. The last flight in Volareweb colors was operated on January 12, 2009, on the Brindisi-Milan Malpensa route. The carrier's license was revoked, and CAI-Second was dissolved on February 11, 2015, and its operations integrated into Alitalia mainline, whose corporate name was by then Alitalia-Società Aerea Italiana.
C.A.I. Second
When Alitalia-CAI integrated Air One operations in January 2009, it did not close CAI-Second (at that time known as both Volare S.p.A. and Volareweb.com) so that it could preserve its precious slots at Milan Linate Airport. In practical terms it was an Alitalia low-cost subsidiary. Its head office was located in Area Tecnica Sud of Milan Malpensa Airport Terminal 1"Volare Group SpA." Businessweek. Retrieved on February 8, 2011. "The company is based in Ferno, Italy." and "Aeroporto Malpensa 2000 - S.P. 52 Terminal 1- Area Tecnica Sud Ferno, VA 21010" and it ceased activity with its name on 12 January 2009. The airline was then used to operate Alitalia-SAI flights from Linate Airport as CAI-Second. This was only the legal name, not used in public as all its flights were branded as Alitalia. This non-operational entity ceased operations and was merged into Alitalia-Società Aerea Italiana by February 2015.
Destinations
Last operations Volare Airlines code VE was used on some Alitalia flights from Milan Linate Airport (in this way, the air carrier could operate more flights than it would have been able to do using a single airline, as there was a limit to the operations at this airport for airlines). C.A.I. First was used for the same purpose.
Former destinations
At the time of closure Volareweb.com reached these destinations:
Helsinki (Helsinki-Vantaa Airport)
Paris (Paris-Orly Airport)
Athens (Athens International Airport)
Alghero (Fertilia Airport) Brindisi (Brindisi Airport) Cagliari (Cagliari-Elmas Airport) Catania (Catania-Fontanarossa Airport) Lamezia Terme (Lamezia Terme International Airport) Milan (Malpensa International Airport), base Pescara (Abruzzo International Airport) Venice (Venice Marco Polo Airport)
Niigata
Luqa (Malta International Airport)
Maastricht (Maastricht Aachen Airport) Rotterdam (Rotterdam Airport)
Oslo (Oslo Gardermoen Airport)
Kraków (John Paul II International Airport) Łódź (Władysław Reymont Airport) Warsaw (Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport) Wrocław (Wrocław Airport)
Porto (Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport)
Timișoara (Traian Vuia International Airport)
Málaga (Málaga Airport) Valencia (Valencia International Airport)
Manchester (Manchester Airport)
Fleet
At its peak, the company operated around fifteen Airbus A.320 aircraft (partly coming from the Air Europe fleet) used for short-haul flights to domestic, European, and North African destinations; six Airbus A.330-200s flew long-haul flights to various tourist destinations in the Indian Ocean, Africa, and the Caribbean. After its acquisition in 2000, Air Europe maintained a single Boeing 767 in its livery, occasionally leasing additional aircraft from third-party carriers during peak summer charter activity and during maintenance breaks. Prior to its shutdown in February 2015, the fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
+ C.A.I. Second fleet Aircraft In fleet Passengers J Y+ Y TotalAirbus A320-200 134—114148Total1
Historical fleet
Volare and Volareweb.com operated the following aircraft types in the years:
25 x Airbus A320-200 3 x Airbus A321-200 6 x Airbus A330-200 2 x Boeing 757-200 1 x Boeing 767-300 2 x leased McDonnell Douglas MD-83
In March 2010 the last two Volareweb.com Airbus A320s were repainted into Air One livery and were used alongside three others for Air One's low-fare operations.
Gallery
See also List of defunct airlines of Italy
References
Further reading M. & S. Iarossi (curators), Compagnie Aeree (in Italian language), EDAI, Firenze, 1999/2000 issue N. Pedde, Almanacco delle Linee Aeree Italiane 1947-2007 (in Italian language), "Landra Helicus", GAN, Roma, 2007,
External links
Volare Airlines (archive, 2006–2008) Volare Airlines (archive) Volare Airlines (archive) Volare Group Volare Group (archive)