Aertirrena

Aertirrena was founded in April 1966 by some industrialists from Florence (Tuscany). The airline started to operate regional services to Genoa and Elba Island in the following summer months. The initial fleet was made up by Beechcraft B80 Queen Air, Beechcaft Baron A55 and Piper PA-23. In 1968 a seasonal route from Milan to Elba Island was opened and, in the following year, also Rome was linked to Elba Island. All these flight were operated by Britten Norman BN.2 Islander.

In 1969 a Soviet-manufactured Yakovlev Yak-40^[2] aircraft was delivered on lease and, starting from June 1970, it took over the main routes and several short-haul domestic and European charter flights. The airline grew considerably and incorporated another two Yak-40^[3] (although both aircraft leased to Olympic Airways for a time) and increased the flights frequency.

However, the strong pressure and competition by ATI in the regional routes finally forced Aertirrena to stop its services in 1975. In the aftermath of the company bankruptcy the assets were taken over by newly founded Avioligure. Aertirrena was noticeable as it was the first Italian airline to employ a female pilot, Fiorenza de Bernardi^[4].

• 3 Yakovlev Yak-40 (I-JAKA, I-JAKE, I-JAKI)

• List of defunct airlines of Italy