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| Founded | March 1963 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | May 1966 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 1991 (Merged with Spanish airline Universair to form the Meridiana) | ||||||
| Operating bases | Olbia, Italy | ||||||
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]
Alisarda was founded by the Aga Khan in March 1963 as an air taxi and charter company to serve the Costa Smeralda. [2] [3] Scheduled operations began in May 1966. [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]
Over the years, Alisarda operated the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beechcraft C-45G | 2 | 1964 | 1965 | I-SARE, I-SARF [7] |
| Beechcraft Queen Air 80 | 2 | 1965 | 1966 | I-SARG, I-SARU [7] |
| Fokker F27-100 Friendship | 1 | 1971 | 1974 | I-SARK [8] |
| Fokker F27-200 Friendship | 1 | 1969 | 1974 | I-SARO [9] |
| Fokker F.28 Mk 1000 Fellowship | 1 | 1971 | 1971 | LN-SUM leased from Fokker [10] |
| British Aerospace 146-200 | 1 | 1991 | 1991 | G-BTKC leased from BAE Systems [11] |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 | 2 | 1974 | 1981 | I-SARJ, I-SARV [11] |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 | 2 | 1981 | 1984 | I-SARW, I-SARZ [11] |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 | 7 | 1981 | 1991 | OH-LYT leased from Finnair [11] |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 7 | 1984 | 1991 | PH-MCD leased from Martinair [11] |
| Nord 262A | 2 | 1966 | 1970 | I-SARL, I-SARP [12] |
| Sud SE-210 Caravelle VI-R | 1 | 1977 | 1977 | OY-SAL leased from Sterling Airlines [13] |
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