Air One
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.
Before the merger with Alitalia, Air One was a competitor, the second largest airline in Italy, with a network to 36 destinations in Italy, Europe and North America. Its main bases were Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Linate Airport in Milan and Turin Airport.
Air One ceased operations on 30 October 2014 as part of the new concept of its parent company Alitalia based on its new partnership with Etihad Airways. All routes were either cancelled or taken over by Alitalia itself.
History
First years
Air One started as Aliadriatica which was established in Pescara in 1983 to operate as a flying school and provide air-taxi services and later regional scheduled services. In 1988 Gruppo Toto, one of the leading building and civil engineering groups in Italy, became the majority shareholder. With the acquisition of its first Boeing 737-200 in June 1994, Aliadriatica started scheduled and charter operations. On 27 April 1995 Aliadriatica began scheduled flights between Milan and Brindisi and Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme.On 23 November 1995, the new name Air One was adopted and the airline began operating scheduled flights between Rome and Milan. In 1996, the first full year of operations, 713,000 passengers were carried and the airline expanded rapidly thereafter.
In the year 2000 Air One announced a partnership with Lufthansa and nearly all Air One flights became code-shared with Lufthansa.
As from June 2006, regional destinations were served under the name Air One CityLiner with the brand new fleet of Bombardier CRJ-900s.
In 2007, Air One carried approximately 5.5 million passengers, thus becoming the second largest Italian airline in terms of passenger traffic. 2007 revenues totaled EUR750 million with a net profit of EUR6.8 million.
Merger with Alitalia
In August 2008, it was announced that Air One was to be merged with Alitalia. Air One was almost bankrupt in 2008, and the merger with Alitalia-CAI was the only viable solution to save it.On 13 January 2009, Air One officially became part of Alitalia, though the two airlines were to be combined into one over time. A detailed integration plan was at that time yet to be announced.
On 28 March 2009, due to the merger with Alitalia, the cooperation between Lufthansa's Miles & More and Air One ended. On 28 June 2009, also due to the Alitalia merger, the partnerships with United Airlines' Mileage Plus program and Air Canada's Aeroplan program ended.
Later in 2009, the Alitalia and Air One booking procedures were unified so that the airlines effectively became the same.
Air One "Smart Carrier" - low cost subsidiary
On 28 March 2010, Air One Smart Carrier as a separate brand from Alitalia began operating low-cost flights out of Milan Malpensa Airport. Nine domestic and five international destinations were initially served, using five Airbus A320s painted in the Air One livery and formatted to 180 seats.In its first full quarter of operations, Air One Smart Carrier transported 320 000 passengers, with an on-time performance of 89%.
On 2 February 2011, Air One Smart Carrier announced that, in the summer 2011 season, it would expand its operations at Milan Malpensa and also open a new base at Pisa Airport. The base opened on 1 July 2011. Air One Smart Carrier predicted it would carry 1,6 million passengers in 2011, compared to 0,9 million in 2010, and a new website was also launched.
On 21 December 2011, Air One Smart Carrier announced a new base at Venice Marco Polo Airport, with flights starting in May 2012. On 1 October 2012, operations commenced at Air One Smart Carrier's new base in Catania Fontanarossa Airport, the fourth base. In September 2013 the opening of a fifth base at Palermo Falcone-Borsellino Airport was announced with flights to commence in March 2014 including a new route to London Gatwick Airport, a destination not served by Air One since the ending of flights from Milan Malpensa Airport.
On 26 October 2013, Air One closed its operating base in Milan Malpensa Airport and announced a new base at Palermo Falcone–Borsellino Airport. The flights from Palermo started in March 2014.