Itavia


Itavia was an Italian airline founded in 1958. During the 1960s it became one the main private airlines of Italy, until its collapse in the early 1980s, following the crash of Flight 870, also known as the Ustica disaster. Itavia was headquartered in Rome.

History

The airline was formed under the name of Società di Navigazione Aerea Itavia in 1958 and started domestic services a year later using de Havilland Dove and de Havilland DH.114 Heron aircraft. Operations were suspended in 1961, but resumed in 1962 under the name Aerolinee Itavia. The Herons were replaced in 1963 with the larger Handley Page Dart Herald, a pressurised turboprop liner. The Heralds remained in service until 1973.
Operations ceased again in 1965 and recommenced again in 1969 using Fokker F28 twin-jet airliners. In 1971 the Douglas DC-9-15 entered service. Other DC-9 versions operated were the Douglas DC-9-21, Douglas DC-9-31, Douglas DC-9-33 and Douglas DC-9-51. A total of 14 F28s and 11 DC-9s were used throughout its history.
Itavia operated a domestic network, which was again suspended in late 1980. Eventually, the airline was replaced by Aermediterranea, a subsidiary of Alitalia and ATI, in 1981.

Fleet

Various aircraft types were operated by Itavia over the years:
AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredRefs
Cessna 402B Utiliner119671983
Dassault Falcon 20119771978
de Havilland DH.104 Dove119591960
de Havilland DH.114 Heron719591964
Douglas C-47A Skytrain219611962
Douglas C-47B Skytrain219611963
Fokker F.28 Mk 1000 Fellowship1419691984
Handley Page HPR-7 Dart Herald519631973
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15519711983
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-21119801980
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30419721981
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51119761977
McDonnell Douglas MD-81119831983
Sud Aviation Caravelle VI-R119751975

Incidents and accidents