Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM) was an Italian cargo and passenger airline based in Rome, Italy, which operated between 1928 and 1939 as subsidiary of

Ala Littoria Ala Littoria S.A. was the Italian national airline that operated during the fascist regime in the 1930s and 1940s. History ''Ala Littoria'' was formed by a merger of Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM), Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (SANA) ...

and between 1959 and 1981 as 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 ...

. It was founded on 26 March 1928 as a government initiative of the Secretary of State for Air

Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa. Due to his young a ...

with the aim to take the control of all private airline and rationalize all domestic and international routes. It was relaunched on 3 December 1959 as a non- IATA Alitalia subsidiary to operate IT flights, together with local cargo and secondary domestic passenger services on behalf of the parent company. The latter were transferred to

Aero Trasporti Italiani Aero Trasporti Italiani S.p.A (ATI) was an Italian airline headquartered in Naples, Italy. It was founded on 16 December 1963 as a subsidiary of Alitalia to take over secondary domestic routes in southern Italy operated by another Alitalia subsid ...

in 1964 and the company concentrated on charter operations introducing jet service in 1968. SAM ceased operations at the end of 1976 and was put on liquidation on 1981.

Historical fleet

Pre-WWII fleet

* Breda Ba.44 * CANT 22 * Savoia-Marchetti S.55 * Savoia-Marchetti S.63

"Alitalia" period fleet

Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

* Douglas DC-3 *

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with t ...

* Sud Aviation Caravelle

Accidents

*8 March 1962: A Douglas DC-6B I-DIMO returning to the

Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard. People Notable people with the name include: * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scientist ...

from the Khartoum International Airport crashed against the

Monte Velino Monte Velino is a mountain (2,487 m) in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy, part of the Abruzzo Apennines. Located nearby the boundary with Lazio, between the Fucino plain and the Aterno, Salto and Velino rivers' valleys ...

. All 5 crew members died in the accident, which may have been caused by interference on beacon from some transmitting stations.

External links

SAM on timetableimages.com
1928 establishments in Italy 1981 disestablishments in Italy Defunct airlines of Italy Companies based in Rome Airlines established in 1928 Airlines disestablished in 1981 Alitalia Defunct seaplane operators {{Italy-transport-stub