Poste Air Cargo
Italian airline
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Poste Air Cargo, named Mistral Air until 30 September 2019, is an Italian cargo and former passenger airline headquartered in Rome[3] and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Poste italiane. Its hubs are Brescia Airport and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome.[4] The airline used to serve domestic scheduled and international charter passenger services which it ceased in mid 2018 while focusing on cargo operations since then.
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| Founded | 1981 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Brescia Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Destinations | 8 | ||||||
| Parent company | Poste italiane | ||||||
| Headquarters | Rome, Italy | ||||||
| Key people | Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli), Founder | ||||||
| Website | poste.it/posteaircargo | ||||||
History
Mistral Air was established in 1981 by actor and former swimmer Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli) and started operations in 1984.
It was wholly owned by TNT N.V.[4] until March 2002 when TNT sold a 75% stake to Poste Italiane. The airline has also been contracted by the Holy See of the Vatican to fly Pilgrims to holy sites such as Lourdes, Fátima, Santiago de Compostela, Medjugorje near Mostar, Israel/Palestine (Holy Land), Poland and Mexico. The first flight was from Rome to Lourdes on 27 August 2007 transporting the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini.[5]
In May 2018, owner Poste Italiane announced that Mistral Air will cease all scheduled and charter passenger flights to focus on cargo operations from now on. The airline has been loss-making for years and recently lost a PSO contract for Italian domestic services as well.[6][7]
In 1 October 2019, Mistral Air was rebranded as Poste Air Cargo.
Destinations
As of April 2021, Poste Air Cargo operates scheduled cargo flights to the following domestic destinations as well as 8 international services from their hub in Rome:[8]
Latest passenger destinations served by Mistral Air brand were Cagliari, Catania, Naples, Palermo, Perugia, Brescia and Pescara in Italy as well as Tirana in Albania which all ceased by August 2018.
Fleet
As of August 2025[update], Poste Air Cargo operates the following aircraft:[9]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-400SF | 5 | — | |
| Boeing 737-800BCF | 3 | — | |
| Total | 8 | — |
