Italian airline Air Italy announced on Tuesday that it would liquidate.
Ansa reported that Air Italy’s stakeholders, Alisarda and Qatar Airways, said via the AQA Holding company on Tuesday that they have decided to place the country’s second-biggest airline into liquidation. A statement said the move was made due to the persistent conditions of difficulty on the market.
The airline said it would continue to operate flights through February 25. Anyone with flights after that will receive a refund after requesting one from the airline. Passengers scheduled to travel before February 25 can also request a refund instead of traveling.
Business Insider reports that Air Italy is the latest airline to collapse, following 2019’s bankruptcies of Iceland-based Wow Air, British travel company Thomas Cook, Indian airline Jet Airways, and French budget carrier XL Airways.
Air Italy was effectively a rebranding of legacy Italian regional carrier Meridiana, which was itself the product of mergers with several other small Italian carriers.
Qatar Airways acquired a 49% stake in Meridiana in 2017, overhauling it and rebranding as a long-haul airline using a traditional hub-and-spoke model. The airline used Milan Malpensa airport as its hub, differing from Rome-based Alitalia, the Italian flag carrier.
