Alpi Eagles
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| Founded | 1979 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 2007 | ||||||
| Hubs | Marco Polo International Airport, Venice | ||||||
| Fleet size | 16 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Sant'Angelo di Piove di Sacco, Italy | ||||||
| Key people | Paolo Sinigalia | ||||||
| Website | alpieagles.com/?lang=EN | ||||||
Alpi Eagles SpA was an airline headquartered in Sant'Angelo di Piove di Sacco, Italy.[1] The privately owned regional airline operated scheduled passenger services linking 15 domestic destinations, as well as international services to Albania, Czech Republic, France, Romania, Russia, Spain and Ukraine. Its main base was Marco Polo International Airport, Venice.[2]
History
The company was established in 1979 as an aerobatic team and later diversified into the executive transport market. In May 1996, Alpi Eagles started scheduled passenger services from Venice. It is owned by Interbanca, Ithifly-Veneto Svillippo and Titano-Airontours.[2] Majority of the shares were purchased by Paolo Sinigalia, owner of the Simod shoe factory in Padova, Italy.
One of the decisions was to "cut" the scheduled block times (scheduled time from engine start to engine shut down) because the pilots were paid based on their block time. Flights were delayed and then the management decided to cut the scheduled turn over times. Maintenance couldn't get the airplanes fixed on time, so flights were delayed with 4 hour delays being everyday scene at Venice and Naples airports. Passengers slowly reverted to Air One Cityliner despite preferring to fly AlpiEagles airplanes for comfort.
Pilots started to leave the company; more flights were delayed or canceled due to lack of personnel, crew rest periods etc. More passengers turned to Air One Cityliner.
In September 2007, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) informed passengers that Alpi Eagles' license was under investigation, due to insufficient financial resources. Their license to operate was suspended by the Italian authorities in October 2007. After legal action, a provisional license was issued by ENAC valid until 31 December 2007; however, in December 2007, Alpi Eagles was forbidden to operate by ENAC, effective 1 January 2008.
Fleet
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Learjet 35A | 2 | 1987 | 1993 | I-ALPM, I-ALPT[3] |
| Learjet 55 | 1 | 1990 | n/a | I-ALPR[4] |
| Boeing 737NG | 2 | 2002 | 2003 | OY-MRI, OY-MRX leased from Maersk Air[5] |
| Fokker 100 | 11 | 1996 | 2008 | F-HALP, SE-DUR, YR-FKA on lease[5] |
At the time of suspension of the license to operate on December 31, 2007, Alpi Eagles operated a fleet consisting of 8 Fokker 100; a 9th had been withdrawn from use in November 2007.[6]
From September 2002 until January 2003, Alpi Eagles operated two Boeing 737-700, which had been leased from Danish airline Maersk Air.
Two of Alpi Eagles' Fokker aircraft had been wetleased to Air Dolomiti from May 1999 until December 1999 in the full Air Dolomiti colour scheme. One of those aircraft was involved in an incident at Barcelona's El Prat Airport (Spain) on November 7, 1999, when half of the main landing gear failed to lock and collapsed during landing (see Air Dolomiti Accidents and incidents).
Services [7]
Alpi Eagles suspended all flights starting January 3, 2008. It operated flights to the following cities as of October 2006: [citation needed]
- Domestic scheduled destinations: Alghero, Bari, Bergamo, Bologna, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Lamezia Terme, Milan, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Trieste, Verona and Venice.
- International scheduled destinations: Athens, Barcelona, Bucharest, Cluj Napoca, Kiev, Moscow, Nice, Odessa, Prague, Pristina, Timișoara, Tirana and Valencia.
References
- ^ "Contact Us." Alpi Eagles. 19 May 2007. Retrieved on 24 December 2010. "AlpiEagles SpA via Verdi, 14 35020 S.Angelo di Piove (PD)"
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. pp. 73–74.
- ^ "Learjet 35A". rzjets. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- ^ "Learjet 55". rzjets. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Alpi Eagles Fleet". Planespotters. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- ^ Fleet of Alpi Eagles on www.airfleets.net
- ^ http://www.alpieagles.com/
External links
- Alpi Eagles (in Italian)
- Alpi Eagles (Archive)
- Alpi Eagles fleet
- Letter by AlpiEgleas to clients 15 nov 2007[permanent dead link]
