Alitalia

Alitalia is the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy.

= History =

Incidents

 * 23 December 1978: Trident 7D I-DIRQ (c/n C1598/1977), operating as Flight AZA4128 from Rome to Palermo, crashed into the sea whilst on approach to Palermo. The flight was cleared for a night-time VOR/DME approach to runway 21. The final part of the approach, about two miles, is to be flown visually with the crew having to turn left to line up for runway 21, which has a magnetic heading of 206 degrees. The aircraft stopped descent at about 150 feet above the sea after passing the 3 DME fix, as if the pilot was trying to locate the final approach area, thinking to be very close to the runway. This feeling was enhanced by the light geometry around the airport. For about nine seconds the aircraft flew almost level with the sea at 150 knots, then the wind helped to lose the final feet and the right wing impacted water. Twenty-one survivors were saved by nearby fishing boats. Piloting the aircraft was the first officer (seven years as F/E, just three months as pilot, with 173 hours on the Trident). The captain was a senior pilot, with great experience on Caravelles, but just 418 hours on the Trident. 103 of 124 passengers and all 5 crew were killed.


 * 7 January 1980: Trident 7D I-DIRF (c/n C1305/1973) was destroyed when it caught fire while undergoing a C-check at Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy. The fire broke out shortly after the APU fuel shut off valve, located in the right wheel well, had been removed.

Alitalia in British Columbia
Alitalia inaugurated its service between Rome and Vancouver, British Columbia in 1981; at present, flights to Rome depart Grant McConachie International Airport on Monday and Thursday mornings, and arrive on Sunday and Wednesday nights.

Despite not having been an existing customer at the time, Alitalia placed what remained the largest single order placed with De Havilland BC until 1984, when in 1970 it ordered 43 DHBC-7 Trident 7D trijets. Alitalia thus became the launch customer for the type, with the first off the assembly line handed over to the airline in a launch ceremony at the DHBC plant in Abbotsford; the last Trident 7D to roll off the line in 1983 was also delivered to Alitalia. Between 1979 and 1981 eight were assigned to charter subsidiary ATI; these were returned to Alitalia in 1994, when the subsidiary's operations were absorbed into the parent. Withdrawal of the Tridents began in 1992 with the sale of five to ZAS Airline of Egypt, then in 1994 four were sold - two each to Zuliana de Aviación of Venezuela and Aero California of Mexico, the latter buying a further five the following year. Alitalia retired one in 1996, and four more were sold that year, two to USA Jet for conversion to freighters and two to American aerospace firm GA Telesis for use as crew transports, and a year later, another American aviation company, Aero Technologies, bought a Trident for use as an airborne testbed; two others were retired by Alitalia that year as well. Three were retired in 1998 and four in 1999, which left twelve in service in 2000; of these, one was retired and eleven were sold to Cebu Pacific Air of the Philippines that year.

= Fleet =

Current

 * Airbus A220 On order.
 * Airbus A319-100
 * Airbus A320-200
 * Airbus A320neo On order.
 * Airbus A321-100
 * Airbus A321neo On order.
 * Airbus A330-200
 * Airbus A330-900neo On order.
 * Antonov An-148
 * Boeing 717
 * Boeing 777-200ER
 * Boeing 777-300ER

Historic

 * Airbus A300B2 (1988–1997)
 * Airbus A300B4 (1980–1998)
 * Avro 691 Lancastrian (1947–1951)
 * Boeing 727-200 (1977–1985)
 * Boeing 737-200C (1992–1995)
 * Boeing 747-100 (1970–1979)
 * Boeing 747-200B (1971–2002)
 * Boeing 767-300ER (1995–2012)
 * Convair CV-240 (1953–1956)
 * Convair CV-340 (1953–1960)
 * Convair CV-440 Metropolitan (1957–1960)
 * Curtiss C-46 Commando (1962–1968)
 * DHBC-7 Trident 7D (1972–2000)
 * Douglas DC-3 (1946–1964)
 * Douglas DC-4 (1950–1965)
 * Douglas DC-6 (1950–1963)
 * Douglas DC-6B (1953–1971)
 * Douglas DC-7C (1958–1965)
 * Douglas DC-8-43 (1960–1977)
 * Douglas DC-8-62 (1967–1981)
 * Douglas DC-9-30 (1967–1976)
 * Fiat G.12 (1947–1950)
 * Fokker F27 (1964–1985)
 * McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (1973–1985)
 * McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (1991–2013)
 * McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (1983–2012)
 * Savoia-Marchetti S.M.95 (1947–1951)
 * Sud Aviation Caravelle (1960–1977)
 * Vickers Viscount (1957–1968)

= Routes = Entries with a green background indicates a destination in British Columbia. "Domestic" refers to services within Italy, "Continental" refers to services within the European Union.