Itavia was an Italian airline founded in 1958. During the 1960s it became one of the main private airlines of Italy, until its collapse in the early 1980s, following the destruction of Flight 870, also known as the Ustica disaster. Itavia was headquartered in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

History

The airline was formed under the name of Società di Navigazione Aerea Itavia in 1958 and started domestic services a year later using

de Havilland Dove The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, ...

and

de Havilland DH.114 Heron The de Havilland DH.114 Heron is a small propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more engines. It was designed as a rugged, ...

aircraft. Operations were suspended in 1961, but resumed in 1962 under the name ''Aerolinee Itavia''. The Herons were replaced in 1963 with the larger

Handley Page Dart Herald The Handley Page Dart Herald is a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft. Design and development In the mid-1950s Handley Page developed a new fast short-range regional airliner, intended to replace the older Douglas DC-3, particularly in ...

, a pressurised

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

liner. The Heralds remained in service until 1973. Operations ceased again in 1965 and recommenced again in 1969 using

Fokker F28 The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokk ...

twin-jet airliners. In 1971 the Douglas DC-9-15 entered service. Other DC-9 versions operated were the Douglas DC-9-21, Douglas DC-9-31, Douglas DC-9-33 and Douglas DC-9-51. A total of 14 F28s and 11 DC-9s were used throughout its history. Itavia operated a domestic network, which was again suspended in late 1980. Eventually, the airline was replaced by

Aermediterranea Aermediterranea was an Italian airline founded in 1981 as a subsidiary of Alitalia to replace Itavia on the Italian domestic scene. The airline was owned by Alitalia and ATI, and was later merged into ATI in 1985. History The Italian Minister ...

, a subsidiary of

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...

and ATI, in 1981.

Fleet

Various aircraft types were operated by Itavia over the years:Klee, Ulrich & Bucher, Frank et al. ''jp airline-fleets international''. Zürich-Airport, 1967–1979.

Incidents and accidents

*On October 14, 1960, a De Havilland 114 Heron 2, registered as I-AOMU departed from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, and crashed on mountain (Monte Capanne), in the Elba's Isle. All 11 passengers and crew on board died. *On March 30, 1963, a DC-3, registered as I-TAVI departed from Pescara to

, and crashed on Monte Serra Alta, a mountain nearby Sora. All 8 passengers and crew on board died. *On January 1, 1974, a Fokker F28, registered as I-TIDE departed from

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, and crashed on approach to Turin Airport. 38 of the 42 people on board died. *On June 27, 1980,

Itavia Flight 870 On 27 June 1980, Itavia Flight 870 (IH 870, AJ 421), a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 passenger jet en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea between the islands of Ponza and Ustica, killing all 81 people on board. Known ...

, a Douglas DC-9-15 flying from Bologna to

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

crashed in the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

for reasons unclear, killing all 81 people on board. An explosion caused either by a bomb on board or an air-to-air missile is considered the most likely explanation.

References

External links

Itavia entry at Rzjets
{{Airlines of Italy Italian companies established in 1958 1981 disestablishments in Italy Defunct airlines of Italy Airlines established in 1958 Airlines disestablished in 1981