Alisarda
IATA ICAO Callsign
IG ISS Alisarda
FoundedMarch 1963 (1963-03)
Commenced operationsMay 1966 (1966-05)
Ceased operations1991 (Merged with Spanish airline Universair to form the Meridiana)
Operating basesOlbia, Italy
Alisarda 1973 logo

Alisarda S.p.A. operating as Alisarda was an Italian airline based in Olbia, Sardinia that operated between 1963 and 1991 before it merged with Universair to become Meridiana. As of 2019, Alisarda S.p.A. is a holding company with a 51% stake in Meridiana successor airline Air Italy.[1]

History

Alisarda was founded by the Aga Khan in March 1963 as an air taxi and charter company to serve the Costa Smeralda.[2][3] Scheduled operations began in May 1966.[3] The airline used Nord 262[4] aircraft between Olbia and Rome. These were replaced in 1969 by the Fokker F27 Friendship and with those aircraft, routes to Pisa, Bologna and Cagliari were commenced. The next aircraft type to be introduced was the Douglas DC-9-14 twin-jet airliner with which charter flights to Germany were started. By 1975 the fleet was wholly composed of DC-9s. In the early 1980s it was an associate company of Consorzio Della Costa Smeralda in which Prince Karim Aga Khan had a majority shareholding.[4]

In 1986, Alisarda took 50% ownership of the newly-created Avianova.[2] In mid-1987, the carrier took delivery of a second MD-82 and a third aircraft of the type was ordered.[5]

At March 1990, the number of employees was approximately 1,000 and the president was Sergio Peralda. At this time, the airline was owned by a number of financial groups in which Prince Karim Aga Khan had a major interest. The fleet consisted of six McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51s and five MD-82s. Scheduled services were flown to Bologna, Cagliari, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Olbia, Pisa, Rome and Verona, and Frankfurt, Geneva, Munich, Nice, Paris, Turin and Zurich were served on a seasonal basis.[3]

In 1991, Alisarda and the Spanish airline Universair merged, to form Meridiana.[6] As of 2019, Alisarda is a holding company with a 51% stake in the Meridiana successor airline Air Italy.[1]

Fleet

Over the years, Alisarda operated the following aircraft:

Alisarda Douglas DC-9-14 at Frankfurt Airport in 1977
Alisarda Historical Fleet
AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredRemarks
Beechcraft C-45G219641965I-SARE, I-SARF[7]
Beechcraft Queen Air 80219651966I-SARG, I-SARU[7]
Fokker F27-100 Friendship119711974I-SARK[8]
Fokker F27-200 Friendship119691974I-SARO[9]
Fokker F.28 Mk 1000 Fellowship119711971LN-SUM
leased from Fokker[10]
British Aerospace 146-200119911991G-BTKC
leased from BAE Systems[11]
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14219741981I-SARJ, I-SARV[11]
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32219811984I-SARW, I-SARZ[11]
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51719811991OH-LYT
leased from Finnair[11]
McDonnell Douglas MD-82719841991PH-MCD
leased from Martinair[11]
Nord 262A219661970I-SARL, I-SARP[12]
Sud SE-210 Caravelle VI-R119771977OY-SAL
leased from Sterling Airlines[13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Alisarda Group". www.airitaly.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  2. 1 2 "Alisarda takes on Meridiana name". Flight International. 139 (4271): 24. 12–18 June 1991. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "World airline directory—Alisarda". Flight International. 137 (4207): 66. 14–20 March 1990. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017.
  4. 1 2 Endres, Gunter G (1982). World Airline Fleets 1983. Feltham: The Aviation Data Centre. p. 207. ISBN 0946141029.
  5. ↑ "Market place". Flight International. 131 (4066): 39. 13 June 1987. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Hengi,
  7. 1 2 "Nascita dell'Alisarda". Aviazionecivile. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "Fokker F27-100 Friendship". rzjets. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  9. ↑ "Fokker F27-200 Friendship". rzjets. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  10. ↑ "Fokker F28-1003 Fellowship". rzjets. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Alisarda Fleet details". Planesspotters. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  12. ↑ "Nord 262A". rzjets. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  13. ↑ "Sud SE-210 Caravelle VI-R". rzjets. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  • Hengi, B.I. (2000). Airlines Remembered: Over 200 Airlines of the Past, Described and Illustrated in Colour. Midland. ISBN 9781857800913.
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