Former Italian carrier Meridiana came into existence in the early 1990s, and had an operational history that spanned nearly three decades. Its roots stretch even further back, and the airline also lived on briefly after it ceased operating under its own name. Let’s take a look back at the long and diverse history of Meridiana, and the aircraft that it flew.
Formed through a merger
Meridiana’s history begins not with its own formation in 1991, but almost 30 years earlier. In 1963, a carrier known as Alisarda came into existence, with scheduled operations starting in 1996. Alisarda initially served as an air taxi service, connecting its base in Olbia, Sardinia to the Italian capital city of Rome. It did so using Aérospatiale N 262 turboprops.
By the end of the decade, Alisarda had replaced these aircraft with the Fokker F27. The airline also added new domestic routes to the likes of Bologna, Cagliari, and Pisa. The introduction of the jet-powered McDonnell Douglas DC-9 allowed it to begin flying abroad, serving Germany with charter flights. Alisarda also later added MD-82s to its fleet.
By March 1990, Alisarda had grown to consist of around 1,000 employees, with 11 aircraft serving various domestic and international routes. A year later, it merged with Spain’s Universair to form a new airline that became known as Meridiana, and commenced operations in May 1991. Its headquarters remained in Olbia, although it had a new logo.
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What aircraft did the airline fly?
Meridiana operated for nearly 30 years, during which time it utilized a wide range of aircraft. The airline’s initial fleet consisted of inherited McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-83 series aircraft from Alisarda. Meanwhile, the British Aerospace 146 was also present in Meridiana’s early years. This was not its only regional aircraft, as it later flew the ATR 42 turboprop.
Moving into the 21st century, Meridiana generally favored planes from the Airbus-Boeing duopoly. In terms of Airbus, it flew jets from the A320 and A330 families. Meanwhile, Boeing saw representation in the form of the 737 and 767 series. That being said, the rear-engined MD-80 series did make a return in 2013, when Meridiana began using the MD-82.
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27 years of operations
In 2010, the airline renamed Meridiana Fly following a merger with Eurofly. However, it reverted to the one-word Meridiana name three years later after the acquisition of the old Air Italy, which became a Meridiana subsidiary. Meanwhile, widebody aircraft enabled Meridiana to operate long-haul flights, and it also became part of the Avios loyalty program.
In 2014, Meridiana retired its final A330s to become an all-Boeing airline. The goal of this was to create a more uniform fleet alongside its Air Italy subsidiary. The carrier eventually ceased operations in February 2018, after, under the part-ownership of Qatar Airways, Meridiana and its subsidiary were merged to form a new Air Italy. This new airline itself lasted just two years, and ceased operations in February 2020 after entering liquidation.
What are your memories of Meridiana? Did you ever fly with the Olbia-headquartered airline? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
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