Wind Jet S.p.A. was an Italian low-cost

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It was founded in 2003, following the disbandment of Air Sicilia by current CEO Antonino Pulvirenti, also owner of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team

Calcio Catania Catania S.S.D., commonly known as Catania, is an Italian football club based in the city of Catania, Sicily, that plays in . Originally founded in 1908 as ''Associazione Sportiva pro Educazione Fisica'', the club boasts 17 appearances in the ...

. 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

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 Blue Panorama Airlines S.p.A. was an Italian airline headquartered in Fiumicino operating scheduled and charter flights mostly to domestic and international leisure destinations. As of late 2021, the airline was in the process to change its bran ...

, another Italian airline. On 12 April 2012, Alitalia chose to pursue the sole acquisition of Wind Jet with a cash payment of between 20 and 30 million

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

, while abandoning the project of a merger with

Blue Panorama Airlines Blue Panorama Airlines S.p.A. was an Italian airline headquartered in Fiumicino operating scheduled and charter flights mostly to domestic and international leisure destinations. As of late 2021, the airline was in the process to change its bran ...

. 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. 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. The Italian authorities tried to prompt Alitalia to acquire Wind Jet, but they did not succeed. The charter airline

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

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.

Destinations

Wind Jet had a

codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

with

Meridiana fly Meridiana Fly S.p.A., operating as Meridiana (formerly named ''Meridiana S.p.A.''), was a privately owned Italian airline headquartered in Olbia with its main base at Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport. It operated scheduled and charter flights to do ...

on domestic routes out of Catania and Palermo airports.

Fleet

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

Incidents and accidents

* On 24 September 2010, Wind Jet Flight 243, operated by an Airbus A319-132, registration EI-EDM (ex. N501NK), landed short of the runway at

Punta Raisi Airport Falcone Borsellino Airport ( it, link=no, Aeroporto Falcone Borsellino) or simply Palermo Airport, formerly Punta Raisi Airport, is an international airport located at Cinisi, west northwest of Palermo, the capital city of the Italian island ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

after encountering a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

and

windshear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...

on approach. The aircraft was substantially damaged when it impacted the localiser—both main undercarriage sets collapsed and the aircraft was evacuated by the emergency slides. Around twenty passengers were injured, mostly sustaining minor cuts and bruises, whiplash, and shock. One passenger was reported to have dislocated his shoulder. The ''

Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo The National Agency for the Safety of Flight ( it, Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo), is the Italian aircraft accident investigation agency. The ANSV is headquartered in Rome. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy oversees ...

'' opened an investigation into the accident. Wind Jet stated that they believed

was the cause of the incident. The trial opening in 2013 took its bases on the accusation that it was not caused by windshear but by errors of the two pilots. Both of them asked to be processed via short-trial procedure.

References

External links

Official website

Official website
(archive)
Official website
(archive)
ch-aviation Windjet Fleet
{{Airlines of Italy Italian companies established in 2003 Italian companies disestablished in 2012 Defunct airlines of Italy Defunct European low-cost airlines Airlines established in 2003 Airlines disestablished in 2012 Sicily