Alisarda

Alisarda

IATA ICAO Call sign IG ISS Alisarda
Founded	March 1963 (1963-03)
Commenced operations	May 1966 (1966-05)
Ceased operations	1991 (Merged with Spanish airline Universair to form the Meridiana)
Operating bases	Olbia, Italy

Alisarda 1973 logo

Alisarda S.p.A., operating as Alisarda, was an Italian airline based in Olbia, Sardinia that operated between 1963 and 1991 before it merged with Universair to become Meridiana. As of 2019, Alisarda S.p.A. is a holding company with a 51% stake in Meridiana successor airline Air Italy. ^[1]

History

Alisarda was founded by the Aga Khan in March 1963 (1963-03) as an air taxi and charter company to serve the Costa Smeralda. ^{[2] [3]} Scheduled operations began in May 1966 (1966-05). ^[3] The airline used Nord 262 ^[4] aircraft between Olbia and Rome. These were replaced in 1969 by the Fokker F27 Friendship and with those aircraft, routes to Pisa, Bologna and Cagliari were commenced. The next aircraft type to be introduced was the Douglas DC-9-14 twin-jet airliner with which charter flights to Germany were started. By 1975 the fleet was wholly composed of DC-9s. In the early 1980s it was an associate company of Consorzio Della Costa Smeralda in which Prince Karim Aga Khan had a majority shareholding. ^[4]

In 1986, Alisarda took 50% ownership of the newly created Avianova. ^[2] In mid-1987, the carrier took delivery of a second MD-82 and a third aircraft of the type was ordered. ^[5]

At March 1990, the number of employees was approximately 1,000 and the president was Sergio Peralda. At this time, the airline was owned by a number of financial groups in which Prince Karim Aga Khan had a major interest. The fleet consisted of six McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51s and five MD-82s. Scheduled services were flown to Bologna, Cagliari, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Olbia, Pisa, Rome and Verona, and Frankfurt, Geneva, Munich, Nice, Paris, Turin and Zurich were served on a seasonal basis. ^[3]

In 1991, Alisarda and the Spanish airline Universair merged, to form Meridiana. ^[6] As of 2019, Alisarda is a holding company with a 51% stake in the Meridiana successor airline Air Italy. ^[1]

Fleet

Over the years, Alisarda operated the following aircraft:^{[ citation needed ]}

Alisarda Douglas DC-9-14 at Frankfurt Airport in 1977

Alisarda Historical Fleet

Aircraft	Introduced	Retired	Remarks
Beechcraft C-45G	1964	1965	[7]
Beechcraft Queen Air 80	1965	1966	[7]
Fokker F27-100 Friendship	1971	1974
Fokker F27-200 Friendship	1969	1974
Fokker F.28 Mk 1000 Fellowship	1971	1971	leased from Fokker
British Aerospace 146-200	1991	1991	leased from BAE Systems
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14	1974	1981
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32	1981	1984
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51	1981	1991	leased from Finnair
McDonnell Douglas MD-82	1984	1991	leased from Martinair
Nord 262A	1966	1970
Sud SE-210 Caravelle VI-R	1977	1977	OY-SAL leased from Sterling Airlines

Gallery

• 
  An Alisarda DC-9 on arrival at Pisa Airport in 1974
• 
  Fokker F-27 I-SARK
• 
  Alisarda DC-9 I-SARV
• 
  Fokker F-27 I-SARO

References

1. "Alisarda Group". www.airitaly.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
2. "Alisarda takes on Meridiana name". Flight International . 139 (4271): 24. 12–18 June 1991. ISSN   0015-3710. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018.
3. "World airline directory—Alisarda". Flight International . 137 (4207): 66. 14–20 March 1990. ISSN   0015-3710. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017.
4. Endres, Gunter G (1982). World Airline Fleets 1983. Feltham: The Aviation Data Centre. p. 207. ISBN   0946141029.
5. "Market place". Flight International . 131 (4066): 39. 13 June 1987. ISSN   0015-3710. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017.
6. Hengi, ^{[ page needed ]}
7. "Nascita dell'Alisarda". Aviazionecivile. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.

• Hengi, B.I. (2000). Airlines Remembered: Over 200 Airlines of the Past, Described and Illustrated in Colour. Midland. ISBN   9781857800913.