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| Founded | 1 January 2008 (with CAI) | |||
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| Ceased operations | 12 January 2009 (with Alitalia-LAI) | |||
| Operating bases | Milan-Malpensa Airport | |||
| Frequent-flyer program | MilleMiglia | |||
| Airport lounge | Alitalia/AirOne/SkyTeam lounges | |||
| Alliance | Alitalia Group | |||
| Subsidiaries | Air Europe (2006-2008) | |||
| Fleet size | 2 | |||
| Destinations | 4 | |||
| Parent company | Alitalia — CAI S.p.A. | |||
| Headquarters | Milan-Malpensa Airport Ferno, Italy |
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| Website | Volareweb.com | |||
Volare S.p.A., as Volareweb.com, was a low cost subsidiary of the old Alitalia-LAI. Its head office was located in Area Tecnica Sud of Terminal 1 of Milan-Malpensa International Airport, in Ferno, Varese, Italy,[1] and it ceased activity with this name since 12 January 2009. The airline is now used to operate Alitalia-CAI flights from Milan Linate as CAI-Second.
Alitalia made the subsidiary when a previous airline, Volare Group S.p.A. (holding that controlled Air Europe S.p.A. and Volare Airlines S.p.A.) was put up for sale by the Italian Government in December 2004. Volare Group had its head office in Thiene, Italy and its commercial management and charter management in Milan.[2] Alitalia's offer for 38 million euros was the winning bid. On 15 May 2006 the former Volare Group employees were transferred to Volare S.p.A.
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At one time the airline (Volare Group) operated flights from Italy to Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia and Romania. In addition to these routes, Volare operated frequently to London Luton Airport. The airline suspended its operations in November 2004 and filed for bankruptcy. The tickets on suspended flights were never refunded to passengers. Since then, the airline had come out of bankruptcy and, for a period, it was flying only Italian domestic routes. By May 2008, Volare flew to 20 destinations across Italy and Europe. Volare's charter and leisure subsidiary Air Europe flew to other long-haul international destinations. With the fusion of Alitalia and Air One later on that year, however, Air Europe was discontinued.[3]
After bankruptcy, the Volare Group was put up for sale by the Italian Government in December 2004. Alitalia's offer for 38 million euros was the winning bid,[4] however Air One tried to block the sale by going to court. Air One was unsuccessful but Alitalia had to create Volare SpA in order to take over Volare Group. On 14 April 2006 Volare S.p.A was founded.[5] On 15 May 2006 the former Volare Group employees were transferred to Volare SpA (the Alitalia subsidiary).
In Italy, the sale of Volare is considered a soap-opera due to the multiple obstacles placed on the sale of the airline to Alitalia.
As of 1 January 2008, Volareweb is an integral part of the Alitalia Group and was serving as the company's Italian low-cost subsidiary. Furthermore, due to Alitalia's hub switch from Milan-Malpensa to Rome-Fiumicino, several flights from Malpensa were discontinued (such as Kraków and Timişoara) and transferred to Volare. With the Alitalia-Air One fusion, these flights ceased to exist. Nowadays from Milan Malpensa Alitalia has adopted Air One as a subsidiary for low-fare flights.[6]
Volare Airlines code VE is currently used on some Alitalia flights from Milan Linate Airport (in this way, Alitalia can operate more flights than it would have been able to using a single airline, as there is a limit to the operations at Linate airport for airlines). Alitalia-LAI's Alitalia Express is now being used for the same purpose.[7]
Volareweb.com, the low-cost subsidiary of Alitalia-LAI, served these destinations at the time of closure:
Volareweb.com operated the following aircraft throughout operations:[8]
| Aircraft | Total |
|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 2 (after of the airline shutdown,1 of the airplanes was transferred to Interjet) |
| Total | 2 |
The last two Volareweb.com A320's were repainted in March 2010 into the Air One livery and are being used alongside 3 others for Air One's "low fare" model operations.
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