On Jersey in January 1957, Lord Peter Calthorpe registers Overseas Air Transport (Jersey), Ltd. as an airline. The first aircraft, a de Havilland DH 114 Heron 1B, is delivered in March, but is immediately leased to Dan-Air/Dan-Air Services, Ltd. and Cambrian Airways, Ltd. As a
Result, the moribund company flies no services in either the start-up year or in 1958.
In late February 1959, the Heron 1B is returned, but in March it is leased out to North-South Airlines, Ltd. A second Heron 1B is acquired from Silver City Airways, Ltd. in December; it, too, is leased to North-South. Both aircraft now fly scheduled services for the lessee throughout 1960. At the end of the year, Lord Peter establishes a base at Manchester. Determined to enter the airline business under his own colors, he renames his concern Overseas Mercury Airlines or just MAL, as one Heron 1B comes off the North-South lease.
With ATLB permission, Mercury inaugurates scheduled service from Leeds and Manchester to Sandown, Isle of Wight, on May 20, 1961. The second Heron 1B comes off North-South lease in July. Also during the summer, Mercury joins North-South in operating Air Safaris, Ltd.’s Birmingham-Sandown services, as well as Cambridge-Jersey replacement service for Derby Airways, Ltd.
In September, the company undertakes, on behalf of Jersey Airlines, Ltd., a scheduled route from Manchester to Bournemouth via Abington. Simultaneously, a Mooney M.21 is obtained to offer air taxi flights from Manchester Airport.
In January 1962, Mercury takes over an abandoned North-South Airlines, Ltd. Leeds to Isle of Wight scheduled service and is granted a scheduled frequency between Manchester and Exeter. The Heron 1Bs begin these flights in late spring, together with the offerings of the previous year. The Sandown route is now extended to Swansea.
Scheduled service continues to expand in 1963. On April 1, a direct Birmingham-Newcastle route is initiated; frequency increases on this service to five per week in July. As in 1962, inclusive tour and ad hoc charters are also provided.
A total of 12,845 passengers are carried.
A Douglas DC-3 is delivered to company headquarters at Manchester on April 17,1964. It is placed in revenue service on April 23 with a charter from Birmingham to Amsterdam. Other charters are flown to Germany until June 1, when the American airliner is placed on the Sandown service. Liverpool-Isle of Wight service is inaugurated by Herons on May 30; the DH-114s maintain all of the previous year’s scheduled services as well.
In October, five-times-per-week Manchester to Teesside scheduled service is launched. The company suddenly suspends all operations on October 31, placing all of its aircraft in storage at Manchester and they will never fly in company colors again.
MERIDIAN AIR COMPANY: PB 144, Moscow, 103473, Russia; Phone 7 (095) 913-1793; Fax 7 (095) 938-2216; Code MMM; Year Founded 1991. The executive charter operator Meridian is established at Moscow’s Vnukova Airport on March 31, 1991. Eduard Kni-aguintchev is appointed managing director; however, there is a significant wait before services can begin. Eventually, a workforce of 18 is recruited and revenue flights are inaugurated on January 13, 1993, with a leased British Aerospace BAe 125-700 executive jet.
One-plane flights to western Russia and Europe continue during the remainder of the decade and into the new millennium.
MERIDIANA, S. p.A.: Zona Industriale A. Olbia, Sassari, I-07026, Italy; Phone 39 (789) 52 600; Fax 39 (789) 23 661; Http://www. meridiana. it; Code IG; Year Founded 1991. To align with the Spanish sister carrier Universair, S. A. in which it enjoys part ownership, the Italian scheduled operator Alisarda, S. p.A. changes its name and corporate image on September 1, 1991.
Narcis Andreu, former CEO of Iberia Spanish Airlines (2) (Lineas Aereas de Espana, S. A.), is named chairman, Sergio Peralda, president, and Franco Trivia is appointed managing Director. Together they oversee a fleet comprising 3 British Aerospace BAe 146-200s (with orders outstanding for four more), 6 Douglas DC-9-51s, and 8 McDonnell Douglas MD-82s, 2 of which are leased. A single Bell 412 helicopter is also acquired. The workforce grows 12.8% to 1,139. The last significant even of the year is the introduction of the company’s first business-class product, Electa Club.
The fixed-wing assets are employed to inaugurate scheduled passenger services from Florence to Zurich, Munich, and Frankfurt. Under both corporate names, enplanements for the year are up 10% to 1,701,379. Freight, on the other hand, declines 35.7% to 1.91 million FTKs.
The workforce is sliced by 25.4% in 1992 to 850 and the fleet is unchanged. In June, scheduled flights are initiated year-round from Verona to Rome and London (LGW). The company is now the largest privately owned airline in Italy.
Passenger boardings shoot up 14% to 1.9 million, of which 1.7 million are flown on domestic routes.
Airline employment in 1993 stands at 1,150, up 35.3% over the previous year, and the fleet includes 3 owned and 1 leased MD-83s, 2 chartered and 2 owned MD-82s, 5 owned and 1 leased DC-9-51s, 3 BAe 146-200s, and the Bell helicopter. Orders are placed for 4 Avro (BAe) RJ-85s.
Destinations visited from Olbia, Cagliari, Rome, Naples, and Palermo include each other plus Genoa, Milan, Pisa, Venice, Bologna, Catania, Florence, Barcelona, Frankfurt, London (LGW), Munich, Paris (CDG), and Zurich. Seasonal holiday charters are also undertaken to Bergamo, Frankfurt, Geneva, Munich, Naples, Nice, Paris, Turin, Venice, Verona, and Zurich.
In February, a 50% interest in Avianova S. p.A. is sold to three financial institutions controlled by IRA, the state holding company for Alitalia, S. p.A.
Customer bookings accelerate 15.7% to 2.2 million. Revenues are $230 million and produce an operating profit of $15.08 million and a net profit of $775,000.
In 1994, Managing Director Trivia oversees a workforce of 850, down 26.1% from the previous year, and a fleet expanded by the addition of a fourth BAe 146-200. Plans are made for the acceptance of the RJ85s at year’s end.
Passenger boardings rise 10% to 2.4 million and revenues accelerate 14.1% to $278.2 million. Expenses jump only 12.1% to $256.29 million, leaving an operating surplus of $21.9 million and a net gain of $935,000.
The RJ85 order is cancelled in 1995 and replaced by one for an MD-83. During the summer, an Avions de Transport Aerien ATR-42-320 is leased from the U. K. carrier Titan Airways, Ltd.
At the beginning of the winter schedule at the end of October, new service is started to Amsterdam. Enplanements for the year total 2,522,119.
Airline employment stands at 1,148 in 1996 and the fleet now includes 4 owned and 4 leased MD-82s, 5 owned and 1 chartered DC-9-51s, 4 leased BAe 146-200s, and 1 owned Bell 412. The MD-83 order remains outstanding.
During the first week of August, a satcom telephone system becomes available for passengers flying the four BAes based at Florence.
On November 24, the national antitrust authority, after a nine-month investigation, releases a report finding that Alitalia, S. p.A. has attempted to block competition from Air One, S. p.A. and Meridiana by controlling the allocation of airport landing slots, monopolizing ticket writing, and anticompetitive scheduling. The major is ordered to pay a L 415-million (US$277,000) fine.
Still, in the face of domestic competition, legal and illegal, customer bookings slide 5.6% to 2,464,000 and cargo is down 6.1% to 139,000 FTKs. A small $495,000 net profit is reported.
The employee population is cut a slight 0.4% in 1997 to 1,286 and the fleet remains the same. A strike cripples the company during March.
Destinations visited now include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bergamo, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania, Florence, Frankfurt, Geneva, Genoa, London, Milan, Munich, Naples, Nice, Palermo, Paris, Pisa, Rome, Turin, Venice, Verona, and Zurich.
As a result of the spring job action, the company, at the beginning of August, scraps plans to launch Meridiana Express, which would have offered business-class services out of Verona with a fleet of MD-83s.
Code-sharing now begins over several new routes in partnership with Alitalia, S. p.A. and Air Littoral, S. A.
Consequently, passenger boardings jump 12.9% to 2,720,200 and freight rises 11.7% to 2.75 million FTKs. Operating revenues swell 15.1% to $303.3 million and allow a net gain of $8.7 million.
During late spring 1998, a homepage is opened on the World Wide Web. On December 29, two DC-9-51s are sold to Hawaiian Airlines (HAL); they will be delivered in February.
Customer bookings move ahead by 9.4% to 2.97 million, while cargo traffic jumps 12.5% to 178.6 million FTKs. Revenues climb 22.2% to $370.75 million, while expenses are up 17.5% to $355.55 million. Operating profit grows to $15.2 million, while net gain falls to $3.21 million.
MD-82s replace DC-9-51s on the company’s twice-daily nonstop roundtrips between Milan and Olbia with the introduction of the summer schedule on March 28, 1999. Beginning on May 1, MD-82s also replace DC-9-51s on the daily return services from Bologna to Cagliari, Olbia, and the Spanish city of Barcelona.
A second daily BAe 146-200 roundtrip is inaugurated at the end of the year between Florence and Amsterdam.
Passenger boardings jump 4.7% to 3,075,000. Although operating revenues total $327.6 million, expenses are $341.13 million. Consequently, there is a $35.53-million operating loss.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 1,500, a 30.5% increase over the previous 12 months.
A new block-seat, code-sharing agreement with Alitalia, S. p.A. begins on January 4 aboard Meridiana aircraft flying from Rome to Olbia and Verona and from Milan to Cagliari and Olbia.
Company founder, the Aga Khan, places his 79% majority shareholding up for sale on January 21, calling in Lloyds TSB and KPMG Corporate Finance to handle the transaction. The Aga Khan has been gradually disposing of his Sardinian holdings and Meridiana is the last jewel in that crown.
On behalf of Alitalia, S. p.A., twice-daily MD-82 roundtrips begin on April 15 from Bologna to Palermo. Employing a pair of Avions de Transport Aerien ATR42-320s wet-leased from Italy First, S. p.A., Meridiana, again on behalf of Alitalia, S. p.A., inaugurates twice-daily roundtrips on May 1 from Naples to Bologna.
On June 1, daily return frequencies from Milan to Cagliari are expanded to 7, 3 to Catania, and 8 to Olbia. A new daily MD-82 roundtrip is started to Palermo. Frequencies from Genova to Olbia are halted on June 15 for the period through September 8. On June 16, a new twice-daily return service, delayed 15 days, is initiated from Bologna to Barcelona employing a Fokker 100 wet-leased from Alpi Eagles, S. p.A.
Another Alpi Eagles, S. p.A. Fokker 100 is chartered on June 22 for thrice-daily roundtrip frequencies between Verona and Naples. Also during this peak summer season into September, a thrice-weekly roundtrip is offered between Olbia and London (LGW).
On October 12, the airline’s majority owner, the Aga Khan, takes his airline off the market. Although some expressions of interest in its acquisition have been received, none of these proposals were perceived to advance the interests of the airline, its employees, or the Sardinian economy.
On October 28, Alitalia, S. p.A. begins to code-share on Meridiana. BAe 146-200 roundtrips from Florence to Barcelona, Paris (CDG), and London (LGW). Daily MD-82/-83 roundtrips are inaugurated on December 1 from Catania to London (LGW) via Turin and twice-daily return service from Bologna to Naples.
The year does not end well politically for Italy’s six major airlines. On December 22, it is announced that the government’s competition authority has unleashed an antitrust investigation into Meridiana, as well as Alitalia, S. p.A., Air One, S. p.A., Air Europe, S. p.A., Volare Airlines, S. p.A., and Air Dolomiti, S. p.A. Under review is a question of whether the six had an understanding on two domestic ticket price hikes, following an earlier rise in fuel prices. In June, all of the carriers introduced a 10,000-lire ($8) fuel surcharge, following it up in September with a 24,000-lire boost.
MERIDIANA AIR, S. A.: Spain (1990-1992). Meridiana is formed at Madrid in April 1990 to combine the assets of Lineas Aereas Canarias, S. A. (LAC), Euravia, S. A., and Universair, S. A. Shareholding is divided between the Armas, BBV, and Banesto groups, with the Italian Fimpar and the airline Alisarda, S. p.A. holding 20% and 5%, respectively. The company, a sister carrier of Italy’s Meridiana, S. p.A., is outfitted with 4 British Aerospace BAe 146-300s and 5 McDonnell Douglas MD-83s, 3 of which are leased.
Early in 1991, these are employed to inaugurate scheduled passenger service from Balencia and Barcelona to Zurich, Paris, Munich, London (LGW), Frankfurt, Hanover, Cologne, and Brussels.
Customer bookings climb 15.3% above the combined previous year total for the 3 merger partners to 829,234. Revenues zoom up 86.1% to $74.4 million; however, expenses climb even higher. As a result, there is a $20.3-million operating loss.
Recession forces the carrier to lose its viability in 1992 and at the end of June the company’s severe start-up losses force a major cutback in services; gone are frequencies from Barcelona to Paris, Frankfurt, and Cologne. Other difficulties are caused by a failure to obtain government permission to transport scheduled domestic passengers between Valencia and Barcelona and an inability to secure interline partners. Operations cease on October 16.
MERIDIONAL (COMPANHIA MERIDIONAL DE TRANS-PORTES, S. A.): Brazil (1944-1946). Meridional is formed at Rio de Janeiro in the fall of 1944, one of many new carriers being established in that city late in World War II. In the summer of 1945, three ex-RCAF Avro Ansons are purchased and employed to undertake proving flights during August. Regularly scheduled services to Vitoria and Campos commence on October 4.
The company is unable to recover financially from the crash of an Anson into a mountain outside of Rio in December and thus goes into liquidation in March 1946.
World History
