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Air Europe
Founded	1989
Ceased operations	2008
Hubs	Malpensa International Airport
Secondary hubs	Leonardo da Vinci International Airport
Frequent flyer program	MilleMiglia
Fleet size	1
Destinations	6
Parent company	Alitalia S.p.A.
Headquarters	Varese, Italy
Key people
Website	http://www.aireurope.it/

This article is about the Italian airline. For the former British airline, see Air Europe.

Air Europe was an airline based in Malpensa International Airport, Italy. The airline was part of the Alitalia S.p.A. group.

After bankruptcy, the Volare Group S.p.A. (holding that controlled Air Europe S.p.A. and Volare Airlines S.p.A.) was put up for sale by the Italian Government in December 2006. Alitalia's offer for 38 million euros was the winning bid yet, however, Air One tried to block the sale by going to court. Air One was unsuccessful but Alitalia had to create Volare S.p.A. in order to take over Volare Group S.p.A.. On 15 May 2006 the former Volare Group employees were transferred to Volare S.p.A. (the Alitalia subsidiary).

Air Europe suspended operations in December 2008 after Compagnia Aerea Italiana decided to close down the Air Europe brand. ^[1]

[edit] History

The airline was established in 1989 and started operations on 19 December 1989. It started off as part of the Airlines of Europe Group based in the United Kingdom, but became wholly Italian owned in 1991. In December 1997 it inaugurated its first scheduled flight to Havana, Cuba^[2].

It eventually became a subsidiary of Volare Airlines which ceased operations in 2004. In its time Air Europe was a major domestic and international airline, operating at various times Airbus A320, Boeing 737, Boeing 757, Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 aircraft. In December 2004 it was announced that Air Europe had resumed charter operations with a single Boeing 767-300ER on a Milan - Rome - Mauritius route.^{[citation needed]}

In December 2006 the Italian Government put the Volare Group up for sale and Alitalia ended up being the airline to offer more money. Air One tried to stop this by going to court five times but was unsuccessful and Volare Group should become an Alitalia subsidiary in the next few months (after antitrust immunity). In the meantime Volare Group has started providing soft maintenance services for the Alitalia fleet in Milan Malpensa. However, in Italy the sale of Volare is considered a soap-opera as the "consiglio di Stato" the 23 May 2006 has once again blocked the acquisition of the airline. The whole procedure will have to be done again. At the moment it is not clear what is going to happen as Volare is in serious financial difficulties and before a whole sale is organised again the airline might finish the cash.^{[citation needed]}

As of the 1st January 2008 the airline was considered an integral part of the Alitalia Group.

In September 2008, CAI made an offer to buy Alitalia and on 12th December 2008 the offer was accepted. Due to this the CAI decided they were going to close down Air Europe as there was no longer a need for it.