Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (abbreviated SANA) was an Italian

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

established 1925 in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, concentrating on

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

routes in the western Mediterranean area.

History

The initial route,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , 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 province. The ...

was started on April 7, 1926. The seaplanes utilized were built in

Marina di Pisa Marina di Pisa is a seaside resort of Tuscany, in central Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the provincial capital of Pisa, which lies about 10 km to the east. Marina di Pisa was mostly built during the economic boom of the late 1800s, as a ...

under license from Dornier. SANA in 1929 started to market its air service with Italian names: the air route to Barcelona (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) was called ''Freccia del Mediterraneo'' (Arrow of the Mediterranean), the air route between Genova and Palermo was called ''Freccia Verde'' (Green Arrow) and the one for the Roma – Tripoli air service was named ''Freccia Rossa'' (Red Arrow). One year later the international route to Barcelona was renamed ''Freccia Azzurra'' (Sky-blue Arrow). In 1929 was started with the

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

a route between Italy and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, that was associated with the British imperial flight to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.Air Route to India
/ref> According to Rob Mulder, in 1931 -for the number of passengers carried- the best service (with 2,262) was the one between

and

Genova Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitants ...

, followed by Roma –

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

–

with 2,540 passengers. The link from

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

to Libia Italiana and the city of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

was also a popular one and good for 1,392 passengers and 3,876 kg of mail. In 1934, the airline merged with Aero Espresso Italiana,

Società Italiana Servizi Aerei ''Società'' (Italian language, Italian: ''Society'') was an Italian communist cultural magazine published in Italy between 1945 and 1961. History and profile ''Società'' was founded as a quarterly magazine in Florence in 1945. The founders we ...

(SISA) and Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM), to form

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 (S ...

, the pre-war national airline of Italy.

Fleet

Dornier Do J The Dornier Do J ''Wal'' ("whale") is a twin-engine German flying boat of the 1920s designed by ''Dornier Flugzeugwerke''. The Do J was designated the Do 16 by the Reich Air Ministry (''RLM'') under its RLM aircraft designation system, aircraft ...

"Wal" (12 passengers, 19 aircraft) * Dornier Do R "Super Wal" (12 passengers, 6 aircraft) * Dornier Do X (66 passengers, 2 aircraft)

Notes

External links

Timetable images
{{DEFAULTSORT:Societa Anonima Navigazione Aerea Airlines established in 1925 Defunct airlines of Italy Airlines disestablished in 1934 1925 establishments in Italy 1934 disestablishments in Italy Defunct seaplane operators

History

Fleet

See also

Notes

External links