Air Italy goes into liquidation – no more Avios earning or redeeming possible

Air Italy, the Italian airline which was 49% owned by Qatar Airways, has been placed into liquidation.

Air Italy was an Avios partner, and indeed used Avios as its loyalty currency.  We didn’t talk about it much on Head for Points because it was NOT part of ‘Combine My Avios’.  Air Italy members could not move Avios to or from British Airways Executive Club, or vice versa.

You COULD redeem your BA Avios for Air Italy flights, however.

We wrote a couple of articles on redeeming Avios on Air Italy, such as this one.

Availability was good, but flights came with BA’s crazy surcharges attached.  A business class return redemption from Milan to San Francisco came with £588 of taxes and charges, for example.

Air Italy was, unfortunately, a bit of lost cause for UK residents looking to spend their Avios.

Where did Air Italy come from?

In late 2017, Qatar Airways acquired a 49% stake in Italian airline Meridiana.  Meridiana was a slightly bizarre airline, to put it mildly, being part-owned by the Aga Khan and having a weird route network primarily flown by old McDonnell-Douglas aircraft.

Qatar Airways rebranded Meridiana as Air Italy, using the typical Qatar Airways colour scheme, and moved its hub from Palermo to the more practical choice of Milan.  Qatar Airways provided it with some A330 aircraft to launch long-haul routes which included:

• New York
• Chicago
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• San Francisco
• Toronto
• Bangkok
• Accra
• Lagos
• Delhi
• Mumbai
• Dakar

What went wrong with Air Italy?

There seem to have been four factors which led to the demise of Air Italy.

The first was the inability to fund continuing losses.  Whilst Qatar Airways was happy to put more money into the business, it was not allowed to own more than 49% under EU legislation.  The Aga Khan, who owned the remaining 51%, was not willing to put further money into the company.

The second issue was the insistence of the Italian Government to keep Alitalia alive at all costs.  I have lost count of how many ‘final’ bailouts Alitalia has received over the years, or how much money it has lost.  With the Government refusing to let it die, it continued to sap passengers and revenue from other carriers which had a better chance of long term success.

The third issue was the Boeing 737 MAX crisis.  Air Italy had received a small number of aircraft but was still waiting for the bulk of its order.  This impacted its ability to run a full network of feeder flights for its long haul operation.

The fourth issue was the ‘angled lie flat’ 2 x 2 seating on its A330 aircraft which was increasingly uncompetitive.  That said, feedback on the food and service was positive.

What happens next?

Air Italy has closed with immediate effect.

Its aircraft will continue to fly under contract for the next two weeks to repatriate as many customers as possible.  Beyond 25th February, passengers will be routed onto other airlines.  Full refunds are also on offer, so there is clearly some money left in the company.

Closer to home, IAG will take a hit as the sale of Avios to Air Italy ends.  It remains to be seen what will happen to Avios sitting in Air Italy accounts.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.