First years On 27 April 1995 Air One began scheduled flights between Milan (Linate) and Brindisi and Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme. In the year 2000, Air One announced a partnership with
Lufthansa and nearly all Air One flights became code-shared with
Lufthansa. As of June 2006, regional destinations were served under the name
Air One CityLiner with the brand-new fleet of
Bombardier CRJ-900s. Air One was almost bankrupt in 2008, and the merger with Alitalia-CAI was the only viable solution to save it. On 13 January 2009, Air One officially became part of Alitalia, though the two airlines were to be combined into one over time. A detailed integration plan was at that time yet to be announced. On 28 March 2009, due to the merger with Alitalia, the cooperation between Lufthansa's
Miles & More and Air One ended. On 28 June 2009, also due to the Alitalia merger, the partnerships with United Airlines'
Mileage Plus program and Air Canada's
Aeroplan program ended. Later in 2009, the Alitalia and Air One booking procedures were unified so that the airlines effectively became the same.
Air One "Smart Carrier" - low-cost subsidiary On 28 March 2010, Air One "Smart Carrier" as a separate brand from Alitalia began operating
low-cost flights out of
Milan Malpensa Airport. Nine domestic and five international destinations were initially served, using five
Airbus A320s painted in the Air One livery and formatted to 180 seats. In its first full quarter of operations, Air One Smart Carrier transported 320,000 passengers, with an on-time performance of 89%. On 2 February 2011, Air One Smart Carrier announced that, in the summer 2011 season, it would expand its operations at Milan Malpensa and also open a new base at
Pisa Airport. The base opened on 1 July 2011. Air One Smart Carrier predicted it would carry 1.6 million passengers in 2011, compared to 0.9 million in 2010, and a new website was also launched. On 21 December 2011, Air One Smart Carrier announced a new base at
Venice Marco Polo Airport, with flights starting in May 2012. On 1 October 2012, operations commenced at Air One Smart Carrier's new base in
Catania Fontanarossa Airport, the fourth base. In September 2013 the opening of a fifth base at
Palermo Falcone-Borsellino Airport was announced with flights to commence in March 2014. Including a new route to London Gatwick Airport, a destination not served by Air One since the ending of flights from Milan Malpensa Airport. On 26 October 2013, Air One closed its operating base in
Milan Malpensa Airport and announced a new base at
Palermo Falcone–Borsellino Airport. The flights from Palermo started in March 2014.
Closure On 26 August 2014, it was announced that parent-company Alitalia would shut down Air One by autumn 2014. Some routes, especially within Italy, were taken over by Alitalia itself as well as the former Air One fleet. == Fleet history ==