Marco Messalla/Rome
Two new airlines are preparing to launch charter operations from Italy later this year, one on European routes and the other to long haul destinations.
Volare will be ready to start operations from Bergamo, Milan Malpensa and Verona airports early in the second quarter of this year. Created by a group of Italian north-east-region entrepreneurs and foreign investors, the airline aims to fill the gap in the medium-range charter market in Italy left by collapsed carriers Noman, TAS and TEA Italy. Vincenzo Soddu, managing director of the new airline, previously managed scheduled carrier Alpi Eagles.
Volare will introduce the first of two secondhand CFM International-powered Airbus A320s - leased from GATX/CL Air - in February, and plans to add two more in 1999 and another in 2000. It will operate primarily charter flights to European and Mediterranean destinations.
The move comes as the Italian charter market is in major restructuring, with new initiatives aimed at the potentially rich long-range market being introduced.
Another new carrier, Ocean, plans to operate Boeing 767s to Caribbean and Indian Ocean resorts, while, among the established charter carriers, Air Europe (Italy) and Lauda Air Italia try to expand into the scheduled market.
The authorities have allowed Air Europe to operate with exclusive rights to Cuba - the first time an intercontinental scheduled route has been awarded to a private carrier in Italy since the Second World War. Air Europe's request for a route to Mauritius is the subject of a battle with Alitalia, which wants to prevent further concessions to private carriers.
Lauda Air has also asked for the route from Milan to the Dominican Republic.
Source: Flight International
