Alitalia

For decades the green and red “A” on the tail was the first thing you saw of Italy when an aircraft from Rome or Milan landed. Alitalia was the country’s national airline – with long-haul routes around the world, a long list of legendary aircraft types and a history that in the end revolved almost entirely around crises. Today Alitalia is history. This page shows you how the airline came to be, which aircraft it flew, how to recognize it in old photos and how the handover to ITA Airways worked.

Alitalia at a glance

Alitalia was the Italian national airline and flew from 1947 to 2021. It was founded in 1946 as Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali, and its most important hub was in Rome, latterly at Rome Fiumicino Airport. Milan served as the second focus, latterly mainly Milan Linate.

Alitalia was a classic network airline: domestic connections, a dense European network and long-haul routes to North and South America, Asia and Africa. From 2001 it belonged to the SkyTeam alliance. Alitalia was also known as the Pope’s airline: from 1964 to 2021 the head of the Catholic Church flew on many foreign trips aboard chartered Alitalia jets.

From the 2000s on, the airline was under financial pressure almost constantly. Insolvency in 2008, a restart in 2009, Etihad’s entry in 2015, special administration again from 2017 – in the end the state took charge and founded a successor, ITA Airways. The last Alitalia flight landed in Fiumicino late in the evening of October 14, 2021.

The history in stages

Alitalia emerged from the postwar order. On September 16, 1946, Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali was founded, financed 60 percent by the Italian state and 40 percent by Britain’s British European Airways. The first flight followed on May 5, 1947: a three-engine Fiat G.12 flew from Turin via Rome to Catania. A good two months later, in July 1947, it went abroad for the first time, to Oslo.

The airline carried the name “Alitalia” – a blend of “ali” (wings) and “Italia” – as a brand early on. With the merger of 1957 it became the official company name. After that Alitalia grew quickly: the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome gave it a boost, and with the DC-8 and Caravelle the jet age arrived in the same year.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code AZ: appeared in the flight number, on tickets and on departure boards, for example on the last flight, AZ1586.
• ICAO code AZA: used by air traffic control in the flight plan.
• Callsign ALITALIA: how crews called in on the radio.

Here is a typical pitfall for your logbook. The IATA code AZ lives on, because ITA Airways has flown with AZ flight numbers since October 2021. The ICAO code and the callsign have changed, though: ITA uses ITY and “ITARROW”. If you see AZA as the operator in old flight data, Alitalia is certainly meant. An AZ flight number alone, on the other hand, only tells you which airline flew once you add the date.

The fleet through the decades

Hardly any European airline has flown so many types that are legendary today. In the early years there were propeller aircraft such as the Fiat G.12 and later Douglas types. The first jets arrived from 1960, and in 1969 Alitalia became the first airline in Europe with no propeller aircraft left in its fleet. The jets were built mainly by McDonnell Douglas, Boeing and later Airbus.

Type	Period at Alitalia	Spotter note
Douglas DC-8	from 1960	The airline’s first long-haul jet
Sud Aviation Caravelle	1960–1977	French short-haul jet with rear-mounted engines
McDonnell Douglas DC-9	1967–1996 (DC-9-30)	Backbone of European services in the 1970s and 1980s
Boeing 747-200	1971–2002 (747-200B)	Jumbo on long-haul routes, plus the 747-100 from 1970
McDonnell Douglas MD-82	1983–2012	For decades the typical Alitalia sight in Europe
McDonnell Douglas MD-11	1991–2003	Three-engine long-haul jet
Boeing 767-300ER	1995–2012	Twinjet long-haul aircraft
Airbus A321	1994–2020	Longest variant of the A320 family
Boeing 777-300ER	2017–2021	Late addition to the long-haul fleet

The MD-82 is the epitome of Alitalia for many spotters: slim fuselage, two engines at the rear, the “A” high up on the T-tail. For almost three decades this type flew the bulk of the European and domestic routes before the A320 family replaced it. How the members of the MD-80 family differ is shown in the overview of the MD-80 family.

The fleet of the last years

Toward the end the fleet was much simpler. On short- and medium-haul routes it flew Airbus A319, Airbus A320 and a few A321s. Long-haul was served by the Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-200ER, at times supplemented by the 777-300ER. The subsidiary Alitalia CityLiner used Embraer 175 and 190 aircraft on regional routes, and before that also the Bombardier CRJ900.

The exact number of aircraft fluctuated sharply in the last years, because under special administration Alitalia returned aircraft and let leases expire. What is reliable is mainly what ITA Airways took over: at its start on October 15, 2021 that was 49 aircraft, namely 18 A319, 25 A320 and 6 A330-200.

How to recognize Alitalia

Alitalia’s look was remarkably consistent. In 1969 came the design that made the airline famous: a stylized “A” on the tail designed by the agency Landor in green and red, plus a green stripe along the white fuselage. It is still considered one of the best-known airline liveries – more in the article on legendary airline liveries.

In the mid-2000s the logo was lightly revised. In 2015, with Etihad’s entry, a bigger step followed: the green stripe along the fuselage, which had been part of the look for around 46 years, disappeared. Instead the aircraft wore a warm, ivory fuselage, while the tail stayed green and red with the “A”.

There were also numerous special liveries, for example for a car brand or for Expo 2015 in Milan. And some aircraft carried the SkyTeam alliance logo on the fuselage – which alliance designs exist is shown in the article on alliance liveries.

Hubs and routes

Alitalia’s heart beat at Rome Fiumicino. From there the airline flew to all regions of Italy, across Europe and on long-haul routes. If you want to take photos at the airport today, you will find the right vantage points in the guide Plane spotting at Rome Fiumicino.

The second focus was in Milan. From 1998 to 2008 Alitalia built up Milan Malpensa as a second hub, but largely gave it up in the course of the 2008 crisis. After that the airline concentrated in Milan on Linate, close to the city, mainly with connections to Rome. Alitalia was also present at many other Italian airports, for example Catania, Palermo, Naples and Venice.

Crises, partners and restarts

From the 2000s on, Alitalia struggled with high costs, strong competition from low-cost carriers and the high-speed rail line between Rome and Milan. Several rescue attempts followed one another.

Phase	Period	What happened
Alitalia-LAI	until 2008	State-influenced airline, special administration in 2008
Alitalia-CAI	2009–2014	Restart by the Compagnia Aerea Italiana consortium, merger with Air One, 25 percent for Air France-KLM
Alitalia-SAI	2015–2017	Etihad Airways holds 49 percent, new product and design
Special administration	2017–2021	State bridge loan, search for buyers, under state control from 2020

The restart of 2009 brought the merger with Air One, until then the most important Italian competitor. Air France-KLM acquired about a quarter of the shares, and within SkyTeam Alitalia stayed closely tied to Air France, KLM and Delta Air Lines.

In 2015 Etihad arrived. The Gulf airline took 49 percent of the new Alitalia – Società Aerea Italiana and brought fresh capital, a revised product and the new design. How Etihad Airways invested in Europe at the time is put in context in the article on the business model of the Gulf airlines.

The break came in 2017. After the workforce rejected a restructuring plan with job cuts, Alitalia applied for special administration in spring 2017. The state provided a bridge loan of 900 million euros, and three special administrators looked for buyers – without success. In 2020 the state took full control and in November 2020 founded a new company: ITA Airways.

The end in October 2021

In August 2021 Alitalia announced that it would end flight operations on October 15, 2021. The European Commission insisted that the successor be clearly separate economically from the old airline – which is why ITA started as a new company rather than as a continuation of Alitalia.

ITA was not allowed to take over the MilleMiglia frequent flyer program in full, and staff and routes also passed to the new airline only in part. ITA does not use the name Alitalia for flight operations to this day. How the end fits into the bigger picture is covered in the article on major airline bankruptcies in Europe.

Alitalia in a spotter’s life today

For your logbook, Alitalia is mainly an archive topic. If you took photos in Rome, Milan or at one of the big European airports up to 2021, there is a high chance you have Alitalia on your memory card – depending on the year an MD-82, an A320 or a Boeing 777. With type, registration, location and date, these souvenir photos turn into clean logbook entries.

Tracing where the aircraft ended up is exciting. Many A319, A320 and A330-200 aircraft went straight on flying for ITA Airways, some initially still in the old livery. Other aircraft went back to lessors and turned up with new operators. How to follow an aircraft’s life story via its serial number and registration is explained in the guide How old is this aircraft?.

If you want to experience aviation history in Italy live, the museum Volandia at Milan Malpensa Airport is a good starting point – with a view of the traffic at one of the former Alitalia hubs.

Common mix-ups

• Treating ITA Airways as Alitalia under a new name – ITA is a new company with its own ICAO code that took over part of the fleet.
• Attributing every AZ flight number to Alitalia – since October 15, 2021, ITA Airways flies with AZ.
• Logging Alitalia CityLiner as Alitalia – the Embraer regional jets were flown by a separate subsidiary, only the branding was Alitalia.
• Equating Air One with Alitalia – Air One was an independent competitor until 2009 and only became part of Alitalia after that.
• Seeing Malpensa as a permanent hub – it was one only from 1998 to 2008, the core always remained Rome Fiumicino.
• Mistaking the ivory design for ITA – that was the Alitalia look from 2015, ITA flies in blue.

Conclusion

Alitalia was more than an airline – it was a piece of Italian identity in the sky. From the Fiat G.12 through the DC-8, the Jumbo and the MD-82 to the Boeing 777, it spans a fleet history that few European airlines can top. That crises outweighed everything in the end does not change the appeal for spotters: old photos, clean registrations and the aircraft that kept flying at ITA Airways keep the story alive.