Eurofly was a privately owned airline based in Milan, Italy.[1] Listed on MTA Stock Exchange and controlled by Meridiana, it was Italy’s leading carrier in the leisure flights market and mainly operated international, medium to long haul, point-to-point flights.
The medium-haul activity was centered mainly on operations to Egypt and the Red Sea Riviera, Spain and Greece. The long haul included some of Italians’ preferred tropical destinations like the Maldives and Sri Lanka or Africa. Furthermore, during the summer season, Eurofly operated non-stop scheduled flights to New York City, exploiting the reverse seasonality of if compared to tropical destinations and focusing on incoming traffic to Italy. The company slogan was The Italian [air]way of life.
In 2010, the airline merged with Meridiana to form Meridiana Fly.
History
The airline was established on 26 May 1989 with the aim of selling medium-haul flights to tour operators. Eurofly started its operations on 26 February 1990. It was set up with a 45% shareholding by Alitalia in response to the needs of the flag carrier to develop the leisure travel market. The original shareholding was divided between Alitalia (45%), Olivetti (45%) and San Paolo Finance (10%).[2]
In 2003, Alitalia sold an 80% stake in the airline for $10.8m to Luxembourg based private equity fund Spinnaker, controlled by Italian bank Banco Profilo.[3]
In January 2004, Eurofly was acquired wholly by the Spinnker fund, managed by Sandro Capotosti (CEO and Founder of Banca Prolilo) and Paolo G. Alberoni. The fund listed Eurofly on the Milan Stock Exchange in December 2005.[4] At the end of 2006, Spinnaker sold the residual 29.95% stake in Eurofly to Meridiana and Mr Giovanni Rossi (CEO of Meridiana) took over as CEO of Eurofly.
In January 2008, two capital increases took place and Meridiana participation in Eurofly’s capital grew to 46.1%. On 28 February 2010, Meridiana and Eurofly merged to create Italy’s second-biggest airline, Meridiana fly.[5]
Destinations
Before eurofly was acquired by Meridiana, the airline had 2 codeshare agreements with Air One and British Airways.[6]
Fleet
Eurofly operated the following types[7]:
| Aircraft | Total | Image | Introduced | Retired | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-115(LR) | 1 |  |
2005 | 2007 | leased |
| Airbus A320-214 | 16 |   |
2001 | 2010 | some transferred from Alitalia |
| Airbus A330-200 | 5 |   |
2002 | 2010 | transferred from Alitalia |
| Boeing 737-400 | 1 | 1999 | 2000 | leased from Pegasus Airlines | |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 3 |  |
1998 | 2002 | leased from lessors |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 | 2 | 1992 | 1994 | leased from ATI | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 | 2 |  |
1989 | 2001 | in leasing |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 14 |  |
1986 | 2005 | 3 transferred from Alitalia |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 6 |  |
1994 | 2004 | all transferred from Alitalia |
References
- ^ “Contacts.” Eurofly. Retrieved on 29 November 2010. “Eurofly S.p.a. Via Ettore Bugatti, 15 20142 Milano.”
- ^ “Directory: World Airlines”. Flight International. 2007-04-03. pp. 78–79.
- ^ “Aviation Strategy – The future of Alitalia and its domestic competitors: Air One, Meridiana, Eurofly and Blue Panorama”. aviationstrategy.aero. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ “Tutte le Ipo per Piazza Affari: Chiude Guala Closures, pronte Safilo e Eurotech”. 16 November 2005.
- ^ Derber, Alex (2009-11-20). “Meridiana-Eurofly tie-up creates new carrier Meridiana Fly”. Flight Global. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ “voli diretti eurofly – le vacanze decollano” (in Italian). 2007-02-19. Archived from the original on 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
- ^ Pedde, N. (2007). Almanacco delle Linee Aeree Italiane 1947-2007 (in Italian). Roma: GAN. ISBN 978-88-89640-06-7.
Further reading
- G. D’Avanzo, I Lupi dell’Aria (in Italian language), STH Publishing, Roma, 1992, ISBN 88-7147-000-1
- M. & S. Iarossi (curators), Compagnie Aeree (in Italian language), EDAI, Firenze, 1995/96 edition
- G. D’Avanzo, Deregulation (in Italian language), “Armi e Politica” no. 5, Casa Editrice Nuove Ricerche, Ancona, 1996
- N. Pedde, Almanacco delle Linee Aeree Italiane 1947-2007 (in Italian language), “Landra Helicus”, GAN, Roma, 2007, ISBN 978-88-89640-06-7
See also
External links
- Official website (European site)
- Official website (European site) (in Italian)
- Official website (Indian site)
- Official website (U.S. site)
- Official website (U.S. Vacations site)
- Eurofly Fleet