Wind Jet

Anyone standing at the fence in Catania or Palermo between 2003 and 2012 couldn’t miss them: white Airbus jets with a bright orange nose, orange tail and orange engines. That was Wind Jet, Sicily’s very own low-cost airline. In just a few years it grew into one of the most important carriers between the island and the mainland – and vanished from one day to the next in August 2012, in the middle of peak season. Here you learn how Wind Jet came about, which aircraft it flew, how to recognize it in old photos and why the story ended so abruptly.

Wind Jet at a glance

Wind Jet was an Italian low-cost airline based in Catania that flew from June 2003 to August 2012. Behind it stood Antonino Pulvirenti, an entrepreneur from Catania who at the time also ran the soccer club Calcio Catania. The airline belonged entirely to his holding company, the Finaria Group.

The business model was clearly tailored to Sicily. From its home base at Catania Airport and from Palermo Airport, Wind Jet flew mainly to Rome, Milan and other cities in northern and central Italy. In addition there were international destinations, such as Paris, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Romania, Egypt and, seasonally, Israel. All flights were operated with Airbus A319s and A320s in a single class.

At its peak Wind Jet was a real force: in 2008 the airline counted more than 2.9 million passengers and was considered the largest Italian low-cost carrier. Four years later it was all over. On August 11, 2012 Wind Jet ceased flight operations after a takeover by Alitalia fell through.

The history in stages

The founding came at a time when several private airlines in Italy were trying to hold their own alongside Alitalia. From the start Wind Jet focused on a clear target: the many people who commute between Sicily and the mainland – for study, work, family visits. For these routes the train was long and the ferry cumbersome, while the airplane was fast.

The pace is remarkable. Within five years Wind Jet grew from three A320s to a fleet that counted among the most important in Sicily. The passenger numbers rose year after year: in 2006 it was about 2.2 million according to the airline, then over 2.9 million in 2008. Even in 2011 the figure was still around 2.8 million according to press reports – so the problem was not a lack of passengers but costs.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code IV: appeared in the flight number, on tickets and on departure boards.
• ICAO code JET: used by air traffic control in the flight plan – an unusually catchy three-letter code.
• Callsign GHIBLI: this is how the crews identified themselves on the radio.

The callsign suits the name. Ghibli is the Libyan name for a hot, dry desert wind from North Africa. For an airline that carried “wind” in its name and flew from the south of Italy, it was an obvious choice.

The fleet: Airbus and only Airbus

Wind Jet was a pure Airbus airline. In scheduled service only two types were used, both from the A320 family and both with a single class and no business cabin. That suited the low-cost model: few types, the same training for crews, simple maintenance. How this model works in general is explained in the article How low-cost carriers work.

Type	Period at Wind Jet	Spotter note
Airbus A320	2003–2012	Backbone of the fleet, 180 seats in one class
Airbus A319	2007–2012	Shorter sister with about 140 seats, the first ones came used from Air France
Piaggio P.180 Avanti	until 2012	Two turboprops for the “Platinum Line” air taxi service

The exact fleet size varies depending on source and cutoff date. For May 2012 reference works list five A319s and seven A320s, so twelve Airbus aircraft; Italian press reports from August 2012 also speak of twelve aircraft. Other compilations that add up all aircraft ever operated arrive at higher figures. The Airbus aircraft mostly came from leasing, many of them with Irish registration. They were all built by Airbus.

If you are sorting old photos and are unsure between A319 and A320, the guide Telling the A318, A319, A320 and A321 apart helps. The quickest feature: the A320 has two overwing emergency exits, the A319 only one, and the fuselage looks clearly stubbier on the A319.

Platinum Line: air taxi with pusher propellers

An unusual side branch was the Wind Jet Platinum Line. Under this name the airline offered air taxi flights with two Piaggio P.180 Avantis – those Italian turboprops with a small canard wing at the nose and rear-facing pusher propellers. Anyone who has photographed one of these aircraft in a Wind Jet context owns a real collector’s item.

How to recognize Wind Jet

The livery was one of the most striking in Italy. White fuselage, orange nose, orange engines and an orange tail – that was all it took. The colored nose in particular was unusual back then and made Wind Jet aircraft recognizable from a great distance, for instance on final approach over the sea or when taxiing against the backdrop of Mount Etna.

A second feature is the registration. Because many Airbus aircraft were leased, they often carried Irish EI- registrations instead of an Italian I-. Why leased aircraft are so often registered in Ireland is explained in the article Why so many aircraft are registered in Ireland, Bermuda or Malta.

After the shutdown the leased aircraft went back to their owners. If you see an Airbus with leftover orange but different titles in a photo from that time, the article on hybrid and mixed liveries helps with classification.

The network: Sicily at the center

Catania-Fontanarossa was at the center. From there and from Palermo, Wind Jet served the major destinations on the mainland. Which routes were especially important is shown by a look at the competition authority’s review in summer 2012: it covered, among others, Catania–Bologna, Catania–Milan Linate, Catania–Milan Malpensa, Catania–Pisa, Catania–Rome, Catania–Venice as well as Palermo–Milan, Palermo–Rome and Palermo–Turin.

• Rome and Milan: the most important routes, with flights to Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa.
• Northern and central Italy: Bologna, Pisa, Venice, Verona and Turin.
• Adriatic base: Forlì from 2009, Rimini from 2011 – with connections to Russia, among others.
• International: Paris, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Romania, Egypt and, seasonally, Israel.

For spotters in Germany, Wind Jet was therefore rather rare to see. Anyone who wanted to photograph the orange Airbus aircraft usually had to travel to Italy. Good vantage points in the capital are described in the guide Plane spotting at Rome Fiumicino.

The Palermo accident in 2010

On the evening of September 24, 2010, a Wind Jet Airbus A319 with the registration EI-EDM crashed while landing in Palermo. The aircraft arrived as flight IV 243 from Rome and touched down short of the runway in a thunderstorm with heavy rain and wind shear. The landing gear collapsed, and the aircraft was written off. Several people were injured, mostly lightly; the exact numbers differ depending on the source. There were no fatalities.

The investigation was led by the Italian accident investigation authority ANSV. Reference works name as the main cause that the crew continued the approach even though they did not have the runway in sight at decision altitude. How difficult approaches are in gusty weather is explained in the article Crosswind landings.

The failed takeover by Alitalia

In early 2012 Wind Jet was in serious trouble. Rising fuel prices and the economic crisis weighed on the balance sheet. In January 2012 Alitalia announced that it wanted to take over Wind Jet and the leisure airline Blue Panorama. In April Alitalia signed a contract to take over Wind Jet, while at the end of April the airline introduced short-time work (Cassa integrazione) for all of its roughly 500 employees.

Then came the competition review. Alitalia and Wind Jet were direct competitors on several Sicily routes. The Italian antitrust authority gave the green light at the end of July 2012 but demanded that Alitalia give up slots at Milan Linate and thereby reduce connections to Catania and Palermo. Alitalia then expected losses from the deal and called off the takeover on August 10, 2012.

The end in August 2012

With Alitalia’s withdrawal the fate was sealed. The aviation authority ENAC had already asked Wind Jet beforehand to present financial guarantees for orderly flight operations. Ticket sales were halted, and on August 11, 2012 Wind Jet canceled all flights. In the middle of the vacation season, around 300,000 people with valid bookings were stranded. Other airlines, including Alitalia, helped with repatriation.

Which rights passengers generally have in the event of cancellations is explained in the article Passenger rights under EU Regulation 261/2004. In the case of an airline bankruptcy, however, these rights quickly run into practical limits.

The legal aftermath dragged on for years. In October 2013 a large majority of creditors approved a settlement that covered only part of the claims. In 2015 the Catania public prosecutor’s office investigated for fraudulent bankruptcy, and in early 2016 the founder and the former managing director were arrested. How the proceedings turned out in detail is not conclusively documented here. A classification within the series of European airline collapses is offered by the article Major airline bankruptcies in Europe.

Wind Jet in the spotter’s everyday life today

For your logbook, Wind Jet is a pure archive topic. Anyone who photographed in Italy between 2003 and 2012 may find an orange-nosed Airbus on an old memory card. With type, registration, location and date these become clean entries – and because the airline flew for only nine years, such pictures are rather rare in collections.

Tracing the aircraft is exciting. The leased Airbus aircraft kept flying with other operators after 2012, often under a new registration. How to follow an aircraft’s life history via registration and serial number is explained in the guide How old is this aircraft?.

Italy’s private airlines compared

Wind Jet was part of a whole generation of private Italian airlines that tried their luck alongside Alitalia. Air One challenged the state airline on the Rome–Milan route and was absorbed into it in 2009. Volare Airlines also tried its hand in the low-cost segment and failed. Meridiana from Sardinia became Air Italy in 2018, which gave up in 2020. Today ITA Airways, as Alitalia’s successor, shapes the Italian market. Wind Jet differed from the others mainly through its clear focus on Sicily.

Common mix-ups

• Confusing Wind Jet with other orange low-cost carriers – the combination of orange nose, orange tail and white fuselage is decisive.
• Logging Wind Jet as an Alitalia subsidiary – the takeover was agreed but never completed.
• Taking the ICAO code JET for a placeholder – it really did belong to Wind Jet.
• Taking an EI- registration for an Irish airline – many Wind Jet Airbus aircraft were leased aircraft registered in Ireland.
• Attributing the Air One A320s in Catania from October 2012 to Wind Jet – that was already Alitalia’s low-cost brand.

Conclusion

Wind Jet was Sicily’s own low-cost airline: founded in Catania in 2003, flying Airbus A319s and A320s and at times Italy’s largest low-cost carrier. The orange nose made the fleet unmistakable, and the focus on traffic between the island and the mainland gave it a clear role. In the end money and a partner were missing – after Alitalia’s withdrawal, flight operations ended abruptly in August 2012. For spotters what remains is a short but colorful episode that lives on only in photo archives.