Italy

Europe

17Airlines

8Profiled Airports

13With ICAO

11With Callsign

Aviation History

Italian aviation traces back to early 20th-century pioneers and gained international prominence through Italo Balbo's mass transatlantic formation flights in the 1930s, used as a showcase of Italian aeronautical prowess. Alitalia, founded in 1946, became Italy's flag carrier after a 1957 merger with rival LAI and carried the country into the jet age around 1960. The airline struggled financially for decades, a period marked also by the 2001 Linate Airport runway collision, Italy's worst aviation disaster. Alitalia filed for bankruptcy administration in 2017 and finally ceased operations in 2021, replaced by the newly formed state-backed ITA Airways, in which Germany's Lufthansa Group began acquiring a significant stake starting in 2025 as part of an ongoing consolidation of Italy's flag-carrier ownership.

✦Low-cost carrier Ryanair, not Alitalia or ITA Airways, has carried the most passengers annually within Italy in recent years.

✦Leonardo da Vinci produced detailed flying-machine sketches in Italy centuries before powered flight was achieved, a frequently cited historical curiosity.

✦Italy's Leonardo S.p.A. is a major aerospace and defense firm, and Italy is a partner nation in European aircraft programs such as the ATR turboprop family.

1909

Mario Calderara becomes first Italian to fly

Around 1909, Mario Calderara became recognized as the first Italian to pilot a powered aircraft, marking the start of Italian aviation activity.

1933

Italo Balbo leads mass transatlantic formation flight

General Italo Balbo led a large formation of Italian seaplanes on a transatlantic flight to Chicago in 1933, a major demonstration of Italy's aviation capability.

1946

Alitalia founded as Italy's flag carrier

Alitalia was founded on 16 September 1946 as Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali, later becoming Italy's national flag carrier.

1957

Alitalia and LAI merge into unified carrier

Alitalia merged with rival Italian carrier LAI (Linee Aeree Italiane) in 1957, consolidating Italy's international airline operations.

1960

Alitalia enters the jet age

Around 1960 Alitalia introduced jet aircraft such as the Douglas DC-8 into its fleet, modernizing Italy's long-haul services.

2001

Linate Airport collision kills 118 people

In October 2001, a runway collision between two aircraft at Milan Linate Airport killed 118 people, becoming Italy's deadliest aviation accident.

2017

Alitalia files for bankruptcy administration

After years of financial losses and repeated government bailouts, Alitalia entered extraordinary administration (bankruptcy protection) in May 2017.

2021

Alitalia ceases operations, ITA Airways launches

Alitalia stopped flying in October 2021, with its operations succeeded by newly formed, state-owned ITA Airways.

2025

Lufthansa acquires stake in ITA Airways

Germany's Lufthansa Group completed acquisition of a 41% stake in ITA Airways around early 2025, with an option to move toward majority ownership in subsequent years.

Notable Carriers

Alitalia (historical) · ITA Airways · Ryanair (largest carrier by passengers in Italy) · easyJet · Neos · Air Italy (historical, ceased 2020)

General aviation history sources (Wikipedia, Britannica, contemporary airline news); the Lufthansa-ITA Airways ownership arrangement is a recent and still-evolving deal (majority-stake terms reported as being finalized into 2026) and should be checked against current reporting.

Aviation Firsts

Oldest Airport

Rome–Centocelle Airport — Rome (1909): Opened 15 April 1909, when Wilbur Wright demonstrated his Flyer there. Called 'the first airport and flight school in Italy' and 'the oldest airport in Italy.' No competing claim found. Runway closed, converted to a park; grounds remain an Italian Air Force site with active helipads. · Wikipedia ↗

Oldest Airline

Aero Espresso Italiana (1923): Founded in Rome, 12 December 1923 — called the first airline of the Kingdom of Italy; began commercial services August 1926. Merged in 1934 into the national carrier Ala Littoria, along with SANA (founded 19 January 1925, confirmed later than Aero Espresso), SISA (1926), and SAM. No direct corporate continuity to postwar Alitalia (founded 1946). · Wikipedia ↗

First Foreign Ground Handler

Aviapartner (Belgium): By October 2006, Aviapartner was already handling Iberia's flights at Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Malpensa/Linate, and already had an existing presence in Venice and Turin at that point — meaning its actual first entry into Italy predates October 2006, but no source gives the exact year. Swissport only entered Italy in 2022, too late to be 'first.' (best-documented candidate found — not source-confirmed as literally first.) · AviationPros ↗