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 and between 1959 and 1981 as subsidiary of Alitalia. It was founded on 26 March 1928 as a government initiative of the Secretary of State for Air Italo Balbo 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 The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

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 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 * Douglas DC-3 * Douglas DC-6 * Sud Aviation Caravelle

Accidents

On 8March 1962, a Douglas DC-6B aircraft (registration I-DIMO) returning to Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport from Khartoum International Airport in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

crashed into Monte Velino. All five crew members died in the accident, which may have been caused by interference from transmitting stations.

External links

SAM on timetableimages.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Societa Aerea Mediterranea 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