Blue Panorama Airlines S.p.A. was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

airline headquartered in

Fiumicino Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the ninth-b ...

operating scheduled and charter flights mostly to domestic and international leisure destinations. As of late 2021, the airline was in the process to change its brand name to Luke Air also retiring their former ''Blu-express'' brand used for domestic and short-haul destinations. Additional business charter flights used to be operated under the name ''Executive Blue''. As of late October 2021, it suspended all operations until further notice and was subsequently liquidated in late 2022.

History

Blue Panorama Airlines

Blue Panorama is a private Italian airline operating intercontinental, international, and national charter and scheduled flights. It was founded in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1998 by Franco Pecci, and has been an

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

member since 2002 (IATA code BV). Since 2005, Blue Panorama Airlines'

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

fleet has operated national and international flights for the Blu-Express low-cost division. In 2012,

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. ...

declared interest in a merger with Blue Panorama, as well as with Wind Jet, another Italian airline, but decided not to proceed with the acquisitions. In October 2012, Blue Panorama entered bankruptcy protection. This license gave the airline the ability to restructure itself. On 25 November 2013, Blu-express started flights from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza after Belle Air ceased operations there. In January 2014, Blue Panorama Airlines requested to be admitted to extraordinary administration procedure and the abandonment of the composition procedure in continuity. The management of the airline is left to the company's founder. Blue Panorama confirmed that company business and flights are fully operational. In 2018 the airline came under fire as it has been the policy of Blue Panorama Airlines to charge significant fees to passengers for minor name changes.

Luke Air

In October 2019, the airline announced it would be changing its name to ''Luke Air'' by the end of 2019, revealing a new yellow-blue livery on an

Airbus A330-200 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid–1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 quadjet, and launched both designs alon ...

which was then due to be delivered.austrianaviation.net - "Blue Panorama becomes Luke Air"
(German) 26 October 2019 On 7 March 2020, the first A330-200 was delivered. However, the rebranding had yet to take place. In late 2020, Blue Panorama retired their last

Boeing 767-300ER The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

. In January 2021, it was announced that the rebrand will go ahead. As of September 2021, the airline's official website had its content changed to ''Luke Air operated by Blue Panorama Airlines''.blue-panorama.com
retrieved 28 September 2021 On 27 October 2021, the airline announced the suspension of all flights stating financial difficulties in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Blue Panorama went through recurring restructuring proceedings in recent years.ch-aviation.com - Italy's Blue Panorama suspends flight operations
27 October 2021 Shortly after, it filed for

bankruptcy protection Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

. In June 2022, it has been reported that the grounded airline retired both of their

s leaving them without long-haul capable aircraft.ch-aviation.com - Italy's Blue Panorama retires both A330s
3 June 2022 In December 2022, it was announced that the airline would be

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as wound-up or dissolved, although di ...

and not resume operations.ch-aviation.com - Italy's Blue Panorama, EGO Airways to be liquidated
23 December 2022

Destinations

Blue Panorama operated a network of Italian domestic destinations branded as ''blu-express'' as well as long-haul leisure flights mainly around the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Codeshare agreements

Blue Panorama Airlines maintained

Codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

s with the following airlines: *

Albawings Albawings was an Albanian low-cost airline headquartered in Tirana, and was based at its hub at Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza. History Albawings was founded in February 2015. Albawings was awarded the Air Operator's Certificate (A ...

Cubana de Aviación Cubana de Aviación S.A., or simply Cubana, is the flag carrier and largest airline of Cuba. It was founded in October 1929, becoming one of the earliest airlines to emerge in Latin America. It has its corporate headquarters in Havana, and its ...

Fleet

As of November 2022, the Blue Panorama fleet no longer included any aircraft. The following types have been operated before:

Accidents and incidents

*On 16 July 2004, a

operating as Flight 1504 experienced an uncontained engine failure on takeoff from Rome-Fiumucino Airport. The plane returned and conducted a successful emergency landing. Investigation revealed that a high-pressure fuel hose leaked approximately of fuel into the engine's

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

during taxi, which ignited upon takeoff. *On 22 September 2018, a Blue Panorama Spanish pilot, Emilio Leone, was arrested by Albanian police as his colleagues reported him for trying to fly the aircraft intoxicated.

In popular culture

*A Blue Panorama Boeing 757-200 and

appeared in John Legend's music video for " Show Me".Archived a
Ghostarchive
and the :

References

External links

* {{IATA members, europe Defunct airlines of Italy Airlines established in 1998 Airlines disestablished in 2022 Italian companies established in 1998 Fiumicino Italian brands Companies based in Lazio