The end of Alitalia: the curtain falls on the Italian airline after 74 years

Alitalia started on May 5, 1947 under the name Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali, with a first flight on the Turin-Rome-Catania connection. The first intercontinental flight came a year later, from Milan to Latin America. In 1975 the airline merged with Linee Aeree Italiane and the name “Alitalia” was chosen, meaning a combination of “wings” and “Italy”. By 1960 the company was carrying 1 million passengers, by 1990 this had grown to 25 million.

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