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Air Italy Tickets and Reservations with Alternative Airlines

About

Air Italy was a private Italian airline that operated scheduled passenger services. The airline operated flights across Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean. Air Italy's hub airport was at Milan Malpensa Airport, which is also the hub for airlines such as Cargolux Italia and Fly Ernest.

The airline was previously named Meridiana. Air Italy was established in 2018 when it was announced that the airline Meridiana and its subsidiary, the original Air Italy (which had been part of Meridiana since 2013) would be merged to create the new Air Italy. In February 2020, Air Italy's shareholders met and decided that the airline would cease operations after financial difficulties.

At the time that it ceased operations, the airline operated 26 routes. Along with the old Meridiana routes, Air Italy added new domestic routes to Milan to Rome, Naples, Palermo, Catania, Lamezia Terme and many other popular cities in Italy. It also operated flights to 13 international destinations, including New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the US, as well as countries including Thailand, Spain, Russia, Kenya, and the UK.

Baggage Allowance

Carry-on Baggage

Passengers were allowed one item of carry-on baggage and one personal item, included in the price of their ticket.

The carry-on baggage could weigh no more than 8kg and must-have fit within the dimensions of 55 cm x 40 cm x 20 cm.

Passengers were also allowed one personal item. The personal item must-have fit within the dimensions of 40 cm x 30 cm x 15cm. Personal items could be objects such as a small rucksack, handbag or laptop.

Checked Baggage

All checked baggage must have fit within the dimensions of 158 cm (height x length x width).

@MyAirItalyClub Gold Members

Passengers with @MyAirItalyClub gold membership had additional baggage allowance:

Extra Baggage

Alternative Airlines' customers could book extra baggage at the time of purchasing their Air Italy flight. 

It was possible to add extra baggage to your reservation. This could be done at the time of booking, logging-in to ‘My Account’, or by contacting Alternative Airlines customer service team after the booking was made. The airline charged a fee for additional bags (per bag); the price depended on your fare and the route and would be confirmed during the booking process.

Check-In Information

Airport Check-In

Check-In Online

Web check-in was available for some flights, through Air Italy's online check-in page.

Web check-in was available only for Air Italy flights departing from: Bergamo, Bologna, Cairo, Cagliari, Catania, Lamezia Terme, Los Angeles, Maldives, Milan Linate/Malpensa, Miami, Naples, New York, Olbia, Palermo, Rome, San Francisco, Sharm El Sheikh, Turin, Venice and Verona.

Flights to/from Canada were excluded.

Class Fares

Air Italy offered two class types: Economy and Business. Within the classes, there were also multiple fare options, which determine flight modifications and baggage allowance (see below).

Economy Class

Economy Class Facilities

Domestic and Medium Haul Flights: The airline was dedicated to ongoing fleet renewal, designed to offer more space and comfort throughout the economy cabin. The new brand seats had adjustable headrest and USB connectors, as well as a small screen on the seat-back in front.

International flights: satellite WIFI was available, as well as a great range of on-demand entertainment.

Economy Class Seating

The cabin was designed for comfort, including extra overhead storage, and padded headrests.

Business Class

Business Class Facilities

Domestic and Medium Haul Flights: passengers could enjoy a welcome drink service, as well as breakfast or snacks of their choice.

International flights: passengers could enjoy lots of extras, including a seat mat, duvet, pyjamas with slippers and Fedon pochette with socks, eye mask, earplugs, toothpaste and toothbrush set, face moisturizer and lip balm.

Business Class Seating

On international flights, the Airbus A330 business class offered 180° reclining seats, with a seat pitch of 78”.

On-Board Entertainment

Films

The airline provided on-board entertainment for Economy passengers, in Italian and English, on long-haul international flights. This included an extensive range of movies, as well as documentaries, TV series, biographies and kid channels.

Music

As well as TV and film, the airline had selected a wide variety of songs of all genres and for all ages. This service was available for Economy passengers on long-haul international flights.

Wi-Fi

A WIFI service was available, allowing passengers to stay connected to their business, family and friends via e-mail, text messaging, calls and social media. Once on the plane, passengers could connect to the WIFI to choose the rate plan they prefered. Prices for messaging WIFI started from €3 EUR, while surfing WiFi started from €15 EUR. A total WiFi pass was €21 EUR.

In-Flight Meals

Based on the departure time, the airline offered Economy passengers a breakfast snack, lunch (meal box) or dinner (meal box). The Meal Box was composed of: a main dish (cold dish, such as a Mexicana salad), crackers, snack (sweet or savoury), fruit jam or compote and coffee.

Special Meals

Air Italy provided a wide choice of special meals, tailored for vegetarians, for intolerant or allergic passengers and for health or religion needs. For more information and requests regarding special meals, the airline could be contacted. Passengers who have booked through Alternative Airlines could contact our customer service team. Please note that this will need to have be done up to 48 hours before departure.

Drinks and Alcohol

During the flight, Air Italy offered all passengers a welcome drink and a bar service was always available (fees may apply), with a choice of coffee, tea, infusions, soft drinks, fruit juices.

Alcoholic options included sparkling wine, red wine, white wine, whisky, grappa, vodka, sambuca, rum, and tonic liquor. An exclusive selection of regional wines was available from an in-flight cellar of renowned wineries.

Destinations

Air Italy flew to the following destinations at the time that it ceased operations.

Domestic Destinations

International Destinations

Fleet

The airline used the following aircraft at the time that it ceased operations.

*Boeing 737 Max 8 currently grounded

Airline Alliance

At the time that it ceased operations, the airline was not a member of an airline alliance. However, the airline had expressed interested in joining Oneworld before it ceased operations.

Frequent Flyer Program

@MyAirItalyClub

The airline had a loyalty programme called @MyAirItalyClub, using ‘Avios’ as the reward currency. Members could collect Avios on flights operated by Air Italy, as well as the airline’s partners. It was free for passengers to sign up to @MyAirItalyClub. Avios could also be used to upgrade the @MyAirItalyClub card to @MyAirItalyClub Silver or Gold tier membership, to enjoy added benefits.

Collecting Avios points

During the Alternative Airlines booking process, passengers can select their chosen frequent flyer program from the drop-down menu. This allowed them to select ‘@MyAirItalyClub’ and type in their personal membership number to collect Avios points.

Codeshare Agreements

Air Italy had codeshare agreements with a number of airlines. This means flight tickets might have been owned and distributed by one airline, but the actual flight would be operated by another airline. Codeshare partners included:

Interline Agreement

The airline had the following interline (Special Prorate Agreement) partners:

Read more about interline agreements.

Hub Airport

Milan Malpensa Airport

Milan Malpensa Airport (IATA: MXP) is the largest international airport in the Milan area of Italy and was the hub airport for Air Italy. Airlines fly to MXP from all over the world.  The airport also served as a focus city for Ryanair, EasyJet, and Alitalia. Other airlines that fly to Milan Malpensa include Neos, Air France, Scandinavian Airlines, Blue Panorama Airlines, Air Cairo, American Airlines, Tunisair, Qatar Airlines, and Vueling, as well as many more international airlines.

Image Credit: Philip Tropschug, Wikipedia Commons

News

February 11th 2020

Air Italy Ceases Operations

Air Italy is the latest major airline to cease operations and go into liquidation. The airline had run into financial problems, after reportedly losing a total of €364m EUR in the last two years. The airline launched in 2018 as a rebranding of Meridiana but only lasted a little under two years.

The airline will continue to fly its previously scheduled flights up until February 25th 2020. However, after this, all flights will be cancelled. Any passenger with a reservation after February 25th can get a refund from the airline directly.