Wind Jet

Last updated
Wind Jet
Windjet logo.png
IATA ICAO Callsign
IVJETGHIBLI
Founded2003
Ceased operations11 August 2012
Operating bases
Hubs
Fleet size12
Destinations26
Headquarters Catania, Italy
Key peopleAntonino Pulvirenti (founder, chairman & CEO)

Wind Jet S.p.A. was an Italian low-cost airline based in Catania, Italy. [1] It was founded in 2003, following the disbandment of Air Sicilia by current CEO Antonino Pulvirenti, also owner of football team Calcio Catania. On 11 August 2012 the airline ceased operations until further notice due to financial troubles. At that time it was the third-largest Italian airline by passenger numbers, and operated national and European flights primarily from its hub in Catania.

Contents

History

Windjet was established in 2003 and started operations on 17 June 2003. It was 100% owned by the Finaria Group.

On 25 January 2012, Alitalia declared they would start a merger with Wind Jet, as well as with Blue Panorama, another Italian airline. [2] On 12 April 2012, Alitalia chose to pursue the sole acquisition of Wind Jet with a cash payment of between 20 and 30 million , while abandoning the project of a merger with Blue Panorama Airlines. [3]

By the end of July 2012, the Italian antitrust authority granted Alitalia leave to acquire Wind Jet, but in return Alitalia would have to give up slots on key domestic routes. Faced with this, Alitalia cancelled the plans a few days later in August 2012. [4] As a result, the cash-strapped airline suspended all flights on 11 August 2012, faced with losing their air operator's certificate, leaving 300,000 passengers stranded. [5] The Italian authorities tried to prompt Alitalia to acquire Wind Jet, but they did not succeed. [6]

The charter airline Livingston announced that it would take over several flights of Wind Jet, but it was unclear if they would continue to operate the routes in the future. [7]

Destinations

Wind Jet had a codeshare agreement with Meridiana fly on domestic routes out of Catania and Palermo airports.

Fleet

A Wind Jet A320 taking off at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport EI-CUM in Amsterdam-Schiphol.jpg
A Wind Jet A320 taking off at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport

The Wind Jet fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of 23 May 2012):

Wind Jet fleet
AircraftIn fleetOrdersSeatsNotes
Airbus A319-100 50140
Airbus A320-200 70180
Total120

Incidents and accidents

Related Research Articles

Air Malta plc is the flag carrier airline of Malta, with its headquarters in Luqa and its hub at Malta International Airport. It operates services to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

LATAM Airlines Brasil, formerly TAM Linhas Aéreas, is the Brazilian brand of LATAM Airlines Group and the flag carrier of Brazil. The merger of TAM with LAN Airlines was completed on June 22, 2012. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between January and December 2019, LATAM had 34.7% of the domestic, and 20.9% of the international market share in terms of passenger-kilometers flown, making it the second largest domestic and largest international airline in Brazil.

Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport Primary airport serving Rome, Italy

Rome–Fiumicino International Airport "Leonardo da Vinci" is an international airport in Fiumicino, Italy, serving Rome. It is the busiest airport in the country, the eleventh-busiest airport in Europe and the world's 49th-busiest airport with over 43.5 million passengers served. It covers an area of 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi).

Falcone Borsellino Airport International airport in Cinisi, Sicily, Italy

Falcone Borsellino Airport or simply Palermo Airport, formerly Punta Raisi Airport, is an international airport located at Cinisi, 19 NM west northwest of Palermo, the capital city of the Italian island of Sicily. It is the second airport of Sicily in terms of passengers after Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, with 7.018.087 passengers handled in 2019.

Carpatair S.A. is a privately owned Romanian charter and former regional airline headquartered in Timișoara.

C.A.I. Second Italian airline

C.A.I. Second S.p.A. was an Italian airline operating flights for its parent company, Alitalia. When Alitalia merged with Air One, it didn't close C.A.I. so that it could preserve slots at Linate Airport.

Itavia Flight 870 Aviation accident in Italy, 1980

On 27 June 1980, Itavia Flight 870, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 passenger jet en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea between the islands of Ponza and Ustica, killing all 81 people on board. Known in Italy as the Ustica massacre, the disaster led to numerous investigations, legal actions and accusations, and continues to be a source of controversy, including claims of conspiracy by the Italian government and others. A 1994 report found the cause of the crash was a terrorist bomb, one in a years-long series of bombings in Italy. The Prime Minister of Italy at the time, Francesco Cossiga, attributed the crash to being accidentally shot down during a dogfight between Libyan and NATO fighter jets.

Air One S.p.A. was an Italian low-cost airline which operated as Air One "Smart Carrier". It operated as Alitalia's low cost carrier subsidiary with operating bases located in Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, Palermo Falcone–Borsellino Airport, Pisa Airport, Venice Marco Polo Airport and Verona Villafranca Airport; while Tirana was a focus city. "Air One" is a portmanteau of the English meaning Air One and the Italian word 'airone', meaning heron, which was also the airline's callsign.

Blue Panorama Airlines S.p.A. is an Italian airline headquartered in Fiumicino operating scheduled and charter flights mostly to domestic and international leisure destinations. As of late 2021, the airline is in the process to change its brand name to Luke Air also retiring their former Blu-express brand used for domestic and short-haul destinations. Additional business charter flights used to be operated under the name Executive Blue. As of late October 2021, it suspended all operations until further notice.

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport Airport in Catania

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport, also known as Vincenzo Bellini Airport, is an international airport 2.3 NM southwest of Catania, the second largest city on the Italian island of Sicily. It is named after the opera composer Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in Catania.

Abruzzo Airport Airport in Pescara, Italy

Abruzzo Airport is an international airport serving Pescara, Italy. It is located approximately 4 km from the centre of Pescara, about 180 km from Rome, a 2-hour drive by car on a motorway across the Appennine mountains. The airport is located on the state road 5 Via Tiburtina Valeria and is well connected to important road and railway connections.

Alitalia Flight 112 1972 passenger plane crash near Palermo, Italy

Alitalia Flight 112 was a scheduled flight from Leonardo da Vinci Airport, in Rome, Italy, to Palermo International Airport in Palermo, Italy, with 115 on board. On 5 May 1972, it crashed into Mount Longa, about 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Palermo while on approach to the airport. Investigators believe that the crew had 3 miles visibility and did not adhere to the established vectors issued by air traffic control. It remains the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy, and the second-deadliest behind the Linate Airport disaster in 2001. The incident is the worst in Alitalia's history.

Aero Trasporti Italiani Defunct Italian airline

Aero Trasporti Italiani S.p.A (ATI) was an Italian airline headquartered in Naples, Italy. It was founded on 16 December 1963 as a subsidiary of Alitalia to take over secondary domestic routes in southern Italy operated by another Alitalia subsidiary Società Aerea Mediterranea.

Tuninter Flight 1153 2005 aviation accident

Tuninter Flight 1153 (UG1153/TUX1153) was a Tuninter Airlines international flight from Bari International Airport in Bari, Italy, to Djerba-Zarzis Airport in Djerba, Tunisia. On 6 August 2005, the Tuninter ATR 72 ditched into the Mediterranean Sea about 18 miles (29 km) from the city of Palermo. Sixteen of the 39 people on board died. The accident resulted from fuel exhaustion due to the installation of fuel quantity indicators designed for the ATR 42, in the larger ATR 72. It was also Tuninter's first fatal accident in the 14-year history of the company.

Palermo–Boccadifalco Airport Airport

Palermo–Boccadifalco Airport, also known as Giuseppe and Francesco Notarbartolo Airport, is the elder of two facilities which serve the Sicilian capital Palermo, in Italy. Located on the outskirts of the city, just before Monte Cuccio, it is one of the oldest airports in the country. Today it houses a Botanical garden and an ancient villa. The latter is used as the Officers' Club by the Italian Aeronautica Militare (Airforce).

Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia, was an airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Rome. The airline was fully owned by the Government of Italy since 17 March 2020. The airline operated a fleet of Airbus A319, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Airbus A330-200, and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft to over 34 scheduled domestic, European and intercontinental destinations. The airline operated from its main hub at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport. The airline was a full member of SkyTeam alliance and it had codeshare agreements with 42 airlines. In 2018, the airline was the twelfth-largest airline in Europe.

Milan Malpensa Airport Airport serving Milan, Italy

Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is 49 kilometres (30 mi) northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and Piedmont.

Livingston Compagnia Aerea

Livingston Compagnia Aerea was an Italian airline with its head office in Cardano al Campo and main hub at Milan Malpensa Airport in Milan. It ceased operations on 7 October 2014.

Alitalia Flight 1553 1999 aviation accident

Alitalia Flight 1553 operated by Minerva Airlines was a regularly scheduled commercial passenger flight from Cagliari which lost control and overran the runway while landing at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport on 25 February 1999. Of the 31 occupants on board, 3 died, including one flight attendant, while another passenger later died in hospital. The Dornier 328 serving the flight was damaged beyond repair.

ITA Airways Flag-carrier airline of Italy since 2021

Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A., trading as ITA Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Italy. It is fully owned by the Government of Italy via the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The airline flies to over 41 scheduled domestic, European, and a few intercontinental destinations. ITA Airways is a member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance.

References

  1. "Contact." Wind Jet. 2 April 2009. Retrieved on 12 August 2012. "Windjet Spa Baglio della Sementa SP 69/II 95121 Passo Martino (CT)"
  2. Alitalia plans merger with Blue Panorama and Wind Jet Flightglobal; retrieved on 26 January 2012.
  3. "Alitalia: si rafforza in low cost e aggancia Wind Jet (Mess)" [Alitalia: strengthens in low cost and engages Wind Jet (Mess)] (in Italian). Borsa Italiana. April 12, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  4. Alitalia cancelled Wind Jet acquisition
  5. Chaos as Italian budget airline Wind Jet halts flights, BBC News Europe, 12 August 2012
  6. volaspheric: No hopes for grounded Wind Jet
  7. volaspheric: Livingston becomes successor of failed Wind Jet
  8. 1 2 "EI-EDM Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  9. Hradecky, Simon (24 September 2010). "Accident: Windjet A319 at Palermo on Sep 24th 2010, touched down short of runway". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  10. "Fuori pista Airbus della Wind Jet Feriti in modo lieve 20 passeggeri" [Wind Jet off-piste Airbus Slightly injured 20 passengers] (in Italian). La Repubblica. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  11. 1 2 "Incidente aereo all'aeroporto Falcone e Borsellino di Palermo: Airbus Wind Jet va fuori pista, feriti" [Plane crash at Falcone and Borsellino airport in Palermo: Aerobus Wind Jet goes off track, injured] (in Italian). Cronaca. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  12. "Palermo, aereo da Roma fuori pista: venti feriti lievi, forse si è rotto il carrello" [Palermo, plane from Rome off the track: twenty light injuries, perhaps the trolley was broken] (in Italian). Il Messagero. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  13. "A 319 fuori pista a Palermo. Indagine ANSV" [A 319 off-track in Palermo. ANSV survey] (in Italian). Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  14. "L'incidente aereo di Punta Raisi le voci in cabina prima dell'urto - Palermo - Repubblica.it" [The plane crash of Punta Raisi the voices in the cabin before the collision - Palermo - Repubblica.it]. Palermo - La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-06-08.