Volare Airlines was an air transport company founded in 1997. Acquired by Alitalia in 2006, it merged with Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana in 2015.
History
Foundation and early activities
Gino Zoccai and former military pilot Vincenzo Soddu estabilished the basis of Volare Airlines SpA between the end of 1997 and the beginning of the following year. Both had the initial support of the tour operator Brevitour, specialized in religious tourism. The first flights - charters only - began on 3 April 1998, departing from Bergamo and Milan-Malpensa airports. On August 28 of that same year, Sair Group (Swissair flag airline owner) became a shareholder, with a 34% stake. This push allowed for the first scheduled flights which began on May 15, 1999. Also included were the lucrative routes from Milan (indeed Bergamo airport) and Rome to Sardinia Island capital, Cagliari. In 2000, the two partners acquired Air Europe, the then-Italian leader in the charter flight market. This created the Volare Group, a holding company that controlled two airlines. The Group had its headquarters in Thiene (north of Vicenza city) and the management and charter offices in Milan. To maintain control of the Group, the owners implemented a significant capital increase, including the participation of several major banks. At one time Volare Group operated flights from Italy to London (Luton Airport), Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, and Romania.
The 2001 crisis
thumb|left|An [[Airbus A320-200 in Volareweb.com colors]]
The air transport crisis triggered by the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York led to the bankruptcy of Swissair. The company's shares were then bought back by Zoccai for approximately €uros 50 million. However, debts mounted, and the entrepreneur agreed to give up his majority stake. Auditors KPMG examined the company's accounts and confirmed its precarious conditions. In 2003, the idea was born to transform Volare Airlines into Italy's first low-cost airline, renaming it Volareweb coinciding with the summer schedule (from 30 March) and operating both A320 and A321 twinjets. A liquidity crisis arose around this same time, and the severity of the situation led to the suspension of operations of the two companies in the Volare Group on November 19, 2004.
The 2004 extraordinary administration and following transformations
The airline suspended its operations on November 19, 2004 and filed for bankruptcy. The causes of the crisis included major financial difficulties and the unavailability of a large part of the fleet (expired contracts but also aircraft seized by their owners). On November 30, Volare Group S.p.A., Volare Airlines S.p.A., and Air Europe S.p.A. were admitted to the extraordinary administration procedure for large insolvent companies. The Group was put up for sale by the Italian Government in December 2004. On May 28, 2005, the extraordinary commissioner Carlo Rinaldini filed a report with the Bankruptcy Registry of the Court of Busto Arsizio, detailing the causes of insolvency.
By mid-2005, but to a limited number of destinations, operations had resumed with two Airbus A.320s in the Volareweb livery and an Air Europe Boeing 767-300ER. In the meanwhile the extraordinary commissioner was in the process of restructuring the companies, pending the auction. In 2006, amidst considerable controversy and several appeals, including that of Air One, Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane acquired the Volare Group on April 14 (38 million €uros was the winning bid,) and renamed it Volare S.p.A. Immediately after, Volareweb and Air Europe merged under a single Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and on 15 May all the Volare Group employees were transferred to Volare SpA.
In the spring of 2007, the airline attempted a relaunch by adding two new Airbus A.320s, strengthening its low-cost flight network with new destinations to and from Milan-Malpensa, eliminating Milan-Linate, and competing on some routes with other established low-cost airlines. By May 2008, Volare flew to 20 destinations in Europe while the charter subsidiary Air Europe flew to other long-haul destinations. As of 1 January 2008, Volareweb was an integral part of Alitalia-LAI and was operating as a low-cost subsidiary. Furthermore, due to Alitalia-LAI's hub switch from Milan-Malpensa to Rome-Fiumicino, several flights from the largest airport in Lombardy were transferred to Volare. In compliance with the agreements for Alitalia-CAI - Air One merger in early 2009, these flights ceased and Alitalia-CAI adopted Air One as a subsidiary for low-fare flights. Only one Airbus A320 coming from parent Alitalia-CAI remained in the fleet to preserve the slots. Scheduled operations were scaled back in November 2008, while the last charter flight was operated in December and Air Europe was discontinued.
Another transformation and the merger with Alitalia
Shortly thereafter, Volare S.p.A. entered extraordinary administration along with Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane, and, as of January 9, 2009, sales of remaining Volareweb flights were suspended, informing passengers that after March 28, flights would be operated by Alitalia - Compagnia Aerea Italiana or Air One.
On January 13, the newly estabilished Alitalia-CAI acquired Volare's assets and its AOC through CAI-Second S.p.A., a "paper company", operating flights for its parent company. It then ceased operating with its own personnel and livery. The last flight in Volareweb colors was operated on January 12, 2009, on the Brindisi-Milan Malpensa route. The carrier's license was revoked, and CAI-Second was dissolved on February 11, 2015, and its operations integrated into Alitalia mainline, whose corporate name was by then Alitalia-Società Aerea Italiana.
C.A.I. Second
When Alitalia-CAI integrated Air One operations in January 2009, it did not close CAI-Second (at that time known as both Volare S.p.A. and Volareweb.com) so that it could preserve its precious slots at Milan Linate Airport. In practical terms it was an Alitalia low-cost subsidiary. Its head office was located in Area Tecnica Sud of Milan Malpensa Airport Terminal 1 and it ceased activity with its name on 12 January 2009. The airline was then used to operate Alitalia-SAI flights from Linate Airport as CAI-Second. This was only the legal name, not used in public as all its flights were branded as Alitalia. This non-operational entity ceased operations and was merged into Alitalia-Società Aerea Italiana by February 2015.