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Wind Jet

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IV
  
JET

Operating bases
  
Palermo Rimini

Fleet size
  
12

Founder
  
Antonino Pulvirenti

Headquarters
  
Catania, Italy

Parent organization
  
Finaria Spa

JET
  
GHIBLI

Hubs
  
Catania

Destinations
  
26

Founded
  
2003

Ceased operations
  
August 11, 2012

Wind Jet httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen330Win

Key people
  
Antonino Pulvirenti (Founder, Chairman & CEO)

Hub
  
Catania–Fontanarossa Airport

Wind Jet S.p.A., was an Italian low-cost airline based in Catania, Italy. It was founded in 2003, following the disbandment of "Air Sicilia", by current CEO Antonino Pulvirenti, also owner of football team Calcio Catania. On 11 August 2012 the airline ceased operations until further notice due to financial troubles. At that time it was the third-largest Italian airline by passenger numbers, and operated national and European flights primarily from its hub in Catania.

Contents

History

Windjet was established in 2003 and started operations on 17 June 2003. It is 100% owned by the Finaria Group.

On 25 January 2012, Alitalia declared they would start a merger with Wind Jet, as well as with Blue Panorama, another Italian airline. On 12 April 2012, Alitalia chose to pursue the acquisition of the sole Wind Jet with a cash payment between 20 and 30 million €, abandoning the project of merger with Blue Panorama Airlines.

By the end of July 2012, the Italian antitrust authority granted Alitalia to acquire Wind Jet, but in return Alitalia would have to give up slots on domestic key routes. Faced with this, Alitalia cancelled the plans a few days later in August 2012. As a result, the cash-strapped airline suspended all flights on 11 August 2012, faced with losing their air operators certificate, leaving 300,000 passengers stranded. The Italian authorities tried to prompt Alitalia for an acquisition of Wind Jet, but they could not prompt Alitalia to acquire the grounded airline.

Wind Jet aircraft are currently parked in Dublin Airport, Ireland pending a decision on their future.

The charter airline Livingston announced to took over several flights of Wind Jet, but it is unclear, if they will continue to operate the routes in the future.

Destinations

Wind Jet had a codeshare agreement with Meridiana fly on domestic routes out of Catania and Palermo airports.

Fleet

The Wind Jet fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of 23 May 2012):

Incidents and accidents

  • On 24 September 2010,Wind Jet Flight 243, operated by an Airbus A319-132, registration EI-EDM, landed short of the runway at Punta Raisi Airport, Palermo, Italy after encountering a thunderstorm and windshear on approach. The aircraft was substantially damaged when it impacted the localiser—both main undercarriage sets collapsed and the aircraft was evacuated by the emergency slides. Around twenty passengers were injured, mostly sustaining minor cuts and bruises, whiplash, and shock. One passenger was reported to have dislocated his shoulder. The Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo opened an investigation into the accident. Wind Jet stated that they believe windshear was the cause of the incident. The trial opening in 2013 takes its bases on the accusation that it was not caused by windshear but to errors of the two pilots. Both of them have asked to be processed via short-trial procedure.

    • References

    Wind Jet Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA