C.A.I. Second

{{Short description|Defunct low-cost airline of Italy (1997–2015)}}

{{Redirect|Volare Airlines|the Ukrainian cargo airline|Volare Airlines (Ukraine)}}

{{Infobox airline

| airline = C.A.I. Second{{cite web|title=IATA - Codes - Airline and Airport Code Search|url=http://www.iata.org/publications/Pages/code-search.aspx|website=iata.org|publisher=IATA|accessdate=1 September 2014}}

| logo = Volareweb Airbus A320 Wallner.jpg

| logo_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| IATA = VE

| ICAO = VLE

| callsign = VOLA

| founded = {{ubl|

| {{start date|1997|||df=yes}}
{{small|(as Volare)}}

| {{start date|2003|02|05|df=yes}}
{{small|(as Volareweb.com)}}}}

| commenced = {{ubl|

| {{start date|1998|04|03|df=yes}}
{{small|(as Volare)}}

| {{start date|2003|03|30|df=yes}}
{{small|(as Volareweb.com)}}}}

| ceased = {{ubl|

| {{end date|2003|03|30|df=yes}}
{{small|(as Volare)}}

| {{end date|2009|01|12|df=yes}}
{{small|(as Volareweb.com)}}

| {{end date|2015|02|11|df=yes}}
{{small|(integrated into Alitalia)}}}}

| aoc =

| bases = Linate Airport

| hubs =

| secondary_hubs =

| focus_cities =

| frequent_flyer = {{ubl|class=nowrap

| Qualiflyer

| MilleMiglia }}

| lounge =

| alliance = {{nowrap|SkyTeam {{small|(affiliate)}}}}

| subsidiaries =

| fleet_size =

| destinations =

| company_slogan =

| parent = Alitalia

| headquarters = Milan Malpensa Airport Terminal 1, Ferno, Varese, Italy

| key_people =

| revenue =

| operating_income =

| net_income =

| profit =

| assets =

| equity =

| num_employees =

| website =

}}

C.A.I. Second S.p.A. was an Italian airline operating flights for its parent company, Alitalia. When Alitalia merged with Air One, it didn't close C.A.I. (at that time known as Volare S.p.A. and then Volareweb.com) so that it could preserve slots at Milan Linate Airport.

It was once a low-cost subsidiary of the old Alitalia-LAI. Its head office was located in Area Tecnica Sud of Terminal 1 of Milan Malpensa Airport, in Ferno, Varese, Italy,"[https://web.archive.org/web/20090301044132/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=716825 Volare Group SpA]." Businessweek. Retrieved on February 8, 2011. "The company is based in Ferno, Italy." and "Aeroporto Malpensa 2000 - S.P. 52 Terminal 1- Area Tecnica Sud Ferno, VA 21010" and it ceased activity with this name on 12 January 2009. The airline was then used to operate Alitalia flights from Linate Airport as C.A.I. Second. This name was only a legal one and not used in public; all of its flights were branded as Alitalia. The airline ceased operations and was merged into Alitalia mainline by February 2015.

History

=Early years=

At one time the airline (Volare Group) operated flights from Italy to Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Romania and London Luton Airport. The airline suspended its operations in November 2004 and filed for bankruptcy. The tickets on suspended flights were never refunded to passengers. Since then, the airline exited bankruptcy and, for a period, only operated Italian domestic routes.

By May 2008, Volare flew to 20 destinations in Europe. Volare's charter and leisure subsidiary Air Europe flew to other long-haul destinations. With the fusion of Alitalia-CAI and Air One later on that year, however, Air Europe was discontinued.[http://www.airlines-inform.com/world_airlines/Air_Europe.html Air Europe information]

=New ownership=

After bankruptcy, the Volare Group was put up for sale by the Italian Government in December 2004. Alitalia-LAI's offer for 38 million euros was the winning bid,[http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2008-06/11049454-italy-puts-low-cost-airline-volare-up-for-sale-alitalia-020.htm Italy puts low-cost airline Volare up for sale - Alitalia] however Air One tried to block the sale by going to court. On 14 April 2006 Volare S.p.A. was founded."[https://web.archive.org/web/20070111071639/http://buy.volareweb.com/jsp/en/web/aboutus/index.jsp Profile]." Volareweb.com. 11 January 2007. Retrieved on 8 February 2011. On 15 May 2006 the former Volare Group employees were transferred to Volare SpA (the Alitalia subsidiary).

Volare Group had its head office in Thiene, Italy and its commercial management and charter management in Milan."[https://web.archive.org/web/20031127033754/http://www.volare-group.it/english/contattaci/index.asp Contact us]." Volareweb.com. Retrieved on 8 February 2011. "HEADQUARTER Corso Garibaldi, 186 - 36016 Thiene (VI) - ITALY." "COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT Via Pirelli, 20 - 20124 Milano - ITALY" and "CHARTER MANAGEMENT Via Pirelli, 20 - 20124 Milano - ITALY" Alitalia's offer for 38 million euros was the winning bid. On 15 May 2006 the former Volare Group employees were transferred to Volare S.p.A. In Italy, the sale of Volare is considered a soap-opera due to the multiple obstacles placed on the sale of the airline to Alitalia-LAI.

As of 1 January 2008, Volareweb was an integral part of Alitalia-LAI and was serving as the company's Italian low-cost subsidiary. Furthermore, due to Alitalia-LAI's hub switch from Milan-Malpensa to Rome-Fiumicino, several flights from Malpensa were discontinued (such as Kraków and Timișoara) and transferred to Volare. With the Alitalia-CAI-Air One fusion, these flights ceased to exist. Nowadays from Milan Malpensa Alitalia-CAI has adopted Air One as a subsidiary for low-fare flights.[http://www.lechotouristique.com/alitalia-investit-le-loisir-avec-air-one.175694 The new Alitalia is using Air One for leisure operations at Milan Malpensa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630103650/http://www.lechotouristique.com/alitalia-investit-le-loisir-avec-air-one.175694 |date=2010-06-30 }} (french) Only one Airbus A320 coming from parent Alitalia-CAI remained in the fleet (EI-IKB) to preserve the slots.

On 11 February 2015, the airline was dissolved and its operations integrated into Alitalia mainline.{{Cite web|url=http://ch-aviation.com/portal/news/36016-alitalia-cancels-cai-first-and-seconds-aocs|title=Alitalia cancels CAI First and Second's AOCs}}{{cite web |url=http://www.enac.gov.it/Aeroporti_e_Compagnie_Aeree/Compagnie_aeree/index.html |title=Enac - Compagnie aeree |website=www.enac.gov.it |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322225911/http://www.enac.gov.it/Aeroporti_e_Compagnie_Aeree/Compagnie_aeree/index.html |archive-date=2009-03-22}}

Destinations

=Last operations=

Volare Airlines code VE was used on some Alitalia flights from Milan Linate Airport (in this way, Alitalia can operate more flights than it would have been able to using a single airline, as there is a limit to the operations at Linate airport for airlines). C.A.I. First was used for the same purpose.

=Former destinations=

Fleet

File:Volareweb Airbus A320-214 Jonsson-1.jpg

File:Airbus A330-202, Volare Airlines AN0558230.jpg

Prior to its shutdown in February 2015, the fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; margin:1em auto;"

|+ C.A.I. Second fleet

style="background:lightgrey;"

! rowspan="2" style="width:125px;"| Aircraft

! rowspan="2" style="width:60px;" rowspan="2" | In fleet

! colspan="4" | Passengers

style="background:lightgrey; color:black;"

! style="width:25px;" | J

! style="width:25px;" | Y+

! style="width:25px;" | Y

! style="width:25px;" | Total

Airbus A320-200

|1

|34

|—

|114

|148

Total

!1

!colspan="6"|

=Historical fleet=

Volareweb.com operated the following aircraft throughout operations:[http://airfleets.net/flottecie/Volare%20Airlines.htm Volare Airlines Fleet]

The last two Volareweb.com A320s were repainted in March 2010 into the Air One livery and are being used alongside three others for Air One's "low fare" model operations.

See also

References

{{reflist|30em}}