Poste Air Cargo, named Mistral Air until 30 September 2019, is an Italian cargo and former passenger

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

headquartered 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, ...

and is a wholly owned subsidiary of

Poste italiane Poste Italiane (, , abbr. PT) is the Italy, Italian postal service provider. Besides providing postal services, Poste Italiane offers communications, Postal savings system, postal savings products, logistics, and Financial services, financial a ...

. Its hubs are Brescia Airport and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome. 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.

History

Mistral Air was established in 1981 by actor and former swimmer

Bud Spencer Bud Spencer (born Carlo Pedersoli; 31 October 1929 – 27 June 2016) was an Italian actor, professional swimmer and water polo player. He was known for action-comedy and spaghetti Western roles with his long-time film partner and friend Ter ...

(Carlo Pedersoli) and started operations in 1984. It was wholly owned by TNT N.V. until March 2002 when TNT sold a 75% stake to

Poste Italiane Poste Italiane (, , abbr. PT) is the Italy, Italian postal service provider. Besides providing postal services, Poste Italiane offers communications, Postal savings system, postal savings products, logistics, and Financial services, financial a ...

. The airline has also been contracted by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

to fly Pilgrims to holy sites such as

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...

, Fátima,

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

Medjugorje Medjugorje (, ) is a village in the municipality of Čitluk in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1981, it has become a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage due to Our ...

across

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

, Israel/Palestine (Holy Land), Poland and Mexico. The first flight went from Rome to Lourdes on 27 August 2007 transporting the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini. In May 2018, owner

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. Mistral_Air_at_Naples_Airport

Since 1 October 2019, Mistral Air was rebranded in 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:poste.it – Il Network
retrieved 17 April 2021 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

Poste Italiane - Mistral Air - Boeing 737-4Q8 - Tel Aviv Ben Gurion - EI-ELZ-1229

, the Poste Air Cargo fleet consists of the following aircraft:

References

External links

{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation Poste Italiane Airlines of Italy Cargo airlines Airlines established in 1981 Companies based in Rome Italian companies established in 1981