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| Founded | 2010 from Meridiana and Eurofly | |||
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| Operating bases |
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| Hubs | Olbia – Costa Smeralda Airport | |||
| Focus cities |
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| Frequent-flyer program | Hi-Fly | |||
| Fleet size | 34 | |||
| Destinations | 40 | |||
| Parent company | Interprogramme (57.19%) | |||
| Headquarters | Olbia - Costa Smeralda Airport Olbia, Italy |
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| Website | www.meridiana.it | |||
Meridiana fly is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Olbia - Costa Smeralda Airport in Olbia, Sardinia, Italy.[1] It is Italy's second largest airline operating domestic and European services, as well as intercontinental flights. The airline mainly operates out of Cagliari-Elmas Airport, Milan Malpensa Airport and Rome Fiumicino Airport. Meridiana fly also holds numerous operations at Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, Florence Airport, Olbia - Costa Smeralda Airport, Palermo International Airport and Verona Airport.[2]
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The airline was founded as Alisarda on March 29, 1963 by the Aga Khan, Prince Karīm al-Hussaynī, as an air-taxi and charter operator to promote tourism to Sardinia. Scheduled services began in 1964 from Olbia. In 1989, 35% of new stock was released to new shareholders to strengthen the company and the name Meridiana was adopted on 3 May 1991. The first international services were operated later in 1991 to Barcelona, Paris, London and Frankfurt. A 29.95% stake in Eurofly was acquired in December 2006. The name then changed to Meridiana Fly, following the Meridiana-Eurofly merger. Meridiana fly is owned by Interprogramme (57.19%), SA AgaKhan (17.59%), employees (16.08%), Airfin (in liquidation) (4.51%), Fondazione Cariplo (3.39%) and other shareholders (1.24%). It has 1,358 employees (at March 2007).[2]
During 2004, Meridiana replaced four BAe 146-200s with four leased Airbus A319-100s, and has plans for a fifth. In January 2004 it was reported that Meridiana was planning to replace its McDonnell Douglas MD-82 fleet with 17 Airbus A320-200s.
In 2006 it transported over 4.6 million people, a 15.7% increase compared to 2005 figures.
On 28 February 2010, Meridiana and Eurofly merged to create Italy's second biggest airline, Meridiana fly. The aircraft of both airlines are being repainted with a new interim livery. However Eurofly's GJ code will be replaced by Meridiana's IG code.[3] The new airline will serve a total of 7 intercontinental, 16 European and Mediterranean, and 18 domestic destinations.
On 12 February 2011, Il Messaggero reported that Alitalia and Meridiana are in merger talks. The airlines’ boards have yet to make a decision about combining. A merger may take place through a share swap and give the Aga Khan who controls Meridiana between 5 percent and 7 percent of Alitalia, according to Il Messaggero. That would correspond to a valuation of Meridiana of about 100 million euros ($135 million), the paper said.[4]
On 18 July 2011, Meridiana fly announced the merger with Air Italy .[5] The new group will become the main charter operator in the Italian market and more prominent in Europe. Post merger, the airline group will scale down the fleet by 13 aircraft.[6]
Hi-Fly is the loyalty programme of Meridiana Fly. The program consists of two levels. The Hi-Fly level allows for the accumulation of miles for the redemption of travel and merchandise. The Fly Pass Club can be earned by flying 12,000 miles or purchased.
Meridiana operates a VIP lounge at Olbia Airport. The airline also contracts lounge access for Flypass members at various destinations served by the carrier.
Meridiana fly has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of 19 December 2011[update]):
The "new" Meridiana fly company has a fleet of 34 aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | Y | Total | |||
| Airbus A319 | 3 | 12 | 116 | 128 | In Meridiana Livery1 Used for flights to/from Florence Peretola Airport |
| Airbus A320-200 | 12 | 0 | 180 | 180 | In Eurofly and Meridiana livery1 |
| Airbus A330-200 | 3 | 26 | 256 | 282 | In Eurofly livery |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 10 | 0 | 165 | 165 | In phase-out[8]2 |
| Total | 28 | ||||
1 Some A320 and A319 aircraft are being painted all white prior to the completion of a new livery.
2 Meridiana Fly will eliminate nine MD-8x aircraft as part of its restructuring plan.[9]
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