Air One

Air One

IATA AP ICAO ADH Callsign HERON
Founded	1983 (as Aliadriatica) 1995 (as Air One) 2010 (as Air One S.C.)
Operating bases	Malpensa Airport Pisa Airport
Frequent-flyer program	MilleMiglia
Fleet size	9
Destinations	34 (15 countries)
Company slogan	Air One, my number one.
Parent company	Alitalia
Headquarters	Fiumicino, Italy
Website	www.flyairone.it

Air One S.p.A., operating as Air One "Smart Carrier", is Alitalia's low cost carrier subsidiary with flights based in Milan Malpensa Airport, Pisa Airport and Venice Marco Polo Airport.^[1]

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 International Airport,^[2] each equipped with a dedicated Air One Lounge named Sala Welcome, which can still be used by Alitalia customers.

"Air One" is a portmanteau of the English meaning Air One and the Italian word 'airone', meaning heron (the bird depicted in the logo), which is also the airline callsign.

History

Air One original logo. Used 1995-2009.

An Air One Boeing 737-300 landing at Fiumicino Airport Italy. (2008)

Air One Airbus A320 in Frankfurt

Air One began life 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 (Linate) 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-900's.^[2]

In 2007, Air One carried approximately 5.5 million passengers (scheduled and charter), thus becoming the second largest Italian airline in terms of passenger traffic. 2007 revenues totaled EUR750 million ( million USD) with a net profit of EUR6.8 million ( million USD).

In August 2008, it was announced that Air One was to be merged with Alitalia.^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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 A320's painted in the Air One livery and formatted to 180 seats.^[6]

In its first full quarter of operations, Air One Smart Carrier transported 320 000 passengers, with an on-time performance of 89%.^[7]

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.^[8] 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. Thus Air One now has three bases - Milan, Pisa and Venice.

Destinations

Air One Smart Carrier currently serves 34 destinations in 15 countries across Europe and North Africa.

Fleet

As of June 2012, the Air One S.C. fleet consists of the following aircraft, in all-economy configuration:

Air One S.C. plans to have a fleet of 10 Airbus A320 aircraft within the next few months. The Air One S.C. fleet has an average fleet age of 4.1 years.^[9]

Fleet history

Over the years, Air One has operated the following aircraft types:^[10]

The Air One fleet progression over the years:

• In January 2006, the airline signed a contract with Airbus for 30 Airbus A320s and 60 options, reportedly worth billion at list prices, to replace the carrier's leased fleet of Boeing 737-400s.^[11]
• In May 2006, it placed an order for 6 Canadair CRJ-900 along with options on a further 4 aircraft.^{[citation needed]}
• The airline received the first of three Avro RJ70 aircraft wet leased from Transwede Airways. This aircraft is now being used by Alitalia on the Milan Linate-London City route.
• White Eagle Aviation, of Poland, acquired a single ATR 42 on lease and placed it into service on a long-term Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) contract with Air One flying domestic Italian passenger routes.^[12]
• In February 2007, Air One announced the conversion of 10 Airbus A320 options into firm orders, bringing its total order for the type to 40 firm, as well as 25 options and 25 purchase rights.^[13]
• In May 2007, the airline announced the conversion of options and purchase rights for 50 Airbus A320s into firm orders, bringing its commitment to the type to 90 aircraft. By 2012 Air One expected to operate flights to 35 destinations in Europe, rather than the 9 which were served at that time.^[14]
• In June 2008, the airline ordered 24 planes from Airbus for 4.8 billion dollars. Air One also had an option to buy another 20 planes for 3.8 billion dollars, Carlo Toto told a news conference. The order of the 24 planes includes 12 Airbus A330's and 12 A350's.^[15] These will now fall into the hands of Alitalia, for use on intercontinental routes out of Malpensa (A330), and increase in long-haul capacity, and then for replacing the Boeing 767's, which Alitalia currently uses in addition to newer Boeing 777's (which won't be replaced by the A330, although they may be replaced by the A350's on order).

References

External links

	Rome portal
	Companies portal
	Aviation portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Air One

• Air One
• Air One Executive
• Air One Executive (Italian)
• Air One Fleet

v t e Airlines of Italy Current Air4 Air Dolomiti Air Italy Air One Air Vallée Alidaunia Alitalia Blu-express Blue Panorama Airlines Elbafly Evolavia Livingston Compagnia Aerea Meridiana Fly MiniLiner Mistral Air Neos On Air Skybridge AirOps Trawel Fly Wind Jet Defunct Aeral Aero Trasporti Italiani Aerolinee Itavia Aermediterranea Aertirrena Air Bee Air Europe Air Italica Air One CityLiner Air Service Plus Ala Littoria Aliadriatica Alisarda Alisea Airlines Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane Alitalia Express Alpi Eagles Avianova Azzurra Air Cargoitalia Club Air Eti 2000 Eurofly Eurojet Italia FlyOristano Gandalf Airlines ItAli Airlines Italy First Lauda Air Italy Livingston Energy Flight Lufthansa Italia Med Airlines Meridiana Minerva Airlines MyAir Ocean Airlines Panair PRiMA Aero Trasporti Italiani Società Aerea Mediterranea Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea Unifly Express VolaSalerno Volareweb.com