Aeropa

This charter airline's existence was brief and fraught with ups and downs. The origins are to be found in SAV-Società Aerea Veneziana, estabilished in 1969 to operate cargo flights. Initially, the company considered purchasing a Bristol Britannia freighter, but the age of the available aircraft made this unwise. Instead, a Boeing 707 was purchased and positioned at Rome's Ciampino airport. However, since it was the first aircraft of this type in Italy, the bureaucratic registration process became lengthy and exhausted the company's financial resources. Consequently, no commercial flight operations were undertaken.^[1]

In January 1973, a group of entrepreneurs founded Aeropa, salvaging the remaining assets of SAV, including the grounded Boeing 707. Having laboriously completed the registration procedures for the four-engined jetliner (I-SAVA), the first flights began before the summer. These were all charter flights: few passengers, many more cargo. In 1974, a second Boeing 707, as well leased, was added to the fleet. Due to technical reasons and their advanced age, both aircraft were forced into prolonged periods of inactivity, increasing operating costs. To improve the situation, a third B707 was purchased, but it never entered service. Burdened by increasingly pressing debts and challenged on the ground by Alitalia, the air carrier ceased operations on February 15, 1975, after being denied the renewal of its operating license (AOC) by ENAC (Italian civil aviation authority).^[2][3]

Aeropa fleet consisted of the following Boeing 707s:

• I-SAVA, model 130, delivered by broker Pan Ayer Co. in 1973

• N716HH, model 320, delivered by broker Pan Ayer Co. in 1974

• N778PA, model130B, nominally delivered in 1975 but never operated