Air Italy's inglorious end: at auction blankets, plates, dishes and trolleys
The epic of Air Italy, which arose from what for years was Meridiana, was very short-lived: from announcement to bankruptcy [...]
Qatar Airways
Etihad Airways
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The Air Italy epic, which arose from what for years was Meridiana, was very short-lived: less than 2 years passed from announcement to bankruptcy.
One has to smile when one thinks of the statements of the company that in May 2018 announced that it would carry 10 million passengers by 2023 with a fleet that would grow to 50 aircraft, half of which were to be Boeing 737 maxes. Yes, the one in the two fatal accidents.
The company was 49% owned by Qatar Airways and the remaining 51% was owned by the former Meridiana.
They wanted to implement a maneuver similar to the one Etihad made with Alitalia; in fact, many insiders were convinced it would end up the same way. The Doha-based airline, in fact, wanted to use Malpensa as a hub to intercept traffic from northern Italy, which is why it had activated very interesting routes such as the connection to Thailand, India and the United States.
Ironically, Air Italy went bankrupt just days before the outbreak of the pandemic in Europe, when at the end of 2019, or just over 20 months after its birth, the "wealthy" partner decided to pull the plug and call it quits after a red of almost 160 mln the first year and an even bigger hole in 2019.
Gone are the 737 max, which were parked in the desert due to the flight ban, and returned to sender the meager fleet of A330s for long-haul.
Today it resurfaces On a site dedicated to stock sales of material from bankruptcies all the branded material that remained unused. And so between a tractor ad and an office desk ad, here are hundreds of dishes, cutlery, tableware, "branded" Air Italy. But also the cloths that were served to business passengers to wipe their hands as soon as they were seated on board and the blankets.
In the photos on the website of the company that is handling the auction on behalf of the liquidator, one can also see hundreds, if not thousands, of bar carts.
Used to transport trays with food and drinks, they are definitely the most interesting piece for fans of this type of object. To get an idea of the cost, Lufthansa sells this type of trolley for over €1,200. You can bet that they will soon end up on some site for sale individually, probably along with a complete set of tableware, plates, glasses and cutlery.
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