Ernest Airlines (registered as ''Ernest S.p.A.'') was an Italian
low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
, headquartered in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. The airline briefly operated a fleet of
Airbus A320 family
The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France.
The first member of the fami ...
aircraft to over 20 destinations, mainly from its main base at
Milan Malpensa Airport
Milan Malpensa Airport "Silvio Berlusconi" is an international airport in Ferno, in the Province of Varese, Lombardy, Italy. It is the largest airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont, and Liguria, as well as the Swiss canton of T ...
. Operations commenced in July 2016, but ceased in January 2020.
History
Founded on 16 October 2015 as ''Fly Ernest'', Ernest Airlines was granted an
AOC and an Operating License as an Italian Air Carrier on 11 April 2017. The company commenced operations serving the Italian-Albanian market, and entered the Ukrainian market on 20 October 2017. It has since also added destinations to Romania and Spain from Italy to its schedule.
In 2017 the airline rebranded from Fly Ernest to Ernest Airlines. The company slogan was ''Fly with style in great company.''
On 29 December 2019, the
Italian Civil Aviation Authority
The Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile (ENAC), , is the civil aviation authority of Italy. Its headquarters are located in Rome. Legislative Decree no.250/97 established the existence of ENAC on 25 July 1997. It is the equivalency of the United ...
announced that it would be suspending the airline's
AOC on 13 January 2020 due to a lack of required guarantees. On 11 January, the airline fully suspended their operations. As of 11 August, the carrier announced plans to restart operations as a regional carrier pending governmental agreement; the plans included converting their fleet from an all-Airbus A320 family to ATR72-600s, to fly to over 70 destinations. The future resumption of services was due for consideration in the Milan Court in September 2020, but no services were resumed.
Destinations
Ernest Airlines operated to over 20 destinations in 5 countries. The airline operated most of their flights out of their main hub at
Milan–Malpensa Airport.
Fleet
Ernest operated the following aircraft at the time of closure:
See also
*
List of defunct airlines of Italy
References
External links
{{Airlines of Italy
Defunct airlines of Italy
Airlines established in 2015
Airlines disestablished in 2020
2015 establishments in Italy
Italian brands
Defunct European low-cost airlines
Defunct low-cost airlines
Italian companies disestablished in 2020
Italian companies established in 2015