Programs: UA 1K MM, Starwood Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,648
Air Europe
I recently booked a trip beginning in late April on United from PDX to MXP and I am currently looking into the best way of getting from Milan to Naples. United Connection (web version) showed some attractive fares on Air Europe, a carrier that I have never heard of.
My prospective itinerary is:
4/26/00 #302 9:30->10:50
5/11/00 #309 7:00->8:25
Round trip comes to $121.03 per person. Does anyone know anything about this carrier? I searched the web and did find a reference to a DEFUNCT carrier with the same name. If they no longer exist, then how can United Connection still be producing fares and availability?
I am reluctant to proceed without more information. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Programs: UA 1K MM, Starwood Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,648
Yes, at least the web version of United Connection is caling it "Air EuropE". I subsequently brought up the same itinerary on the "stand-alone" version of UC (which I much prefer anyway) and it listed all of the same flights but left the name of the airline blank! I was able to determine, however, that the airline code appears to be "PE".
As you can see from the URL, I guess I should have tried the obvious first. According to their web site, they have 11 planes (2 777-200IGW, 4 767-300ER, 5 A320), most of which are equipped with espresso machines ... but only on international flights
For those of you who might be mildly interested, the following info is probably more than you really care to know:
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AirEurope is the first fully-private Italian intercontinental airline company. It began operations in Italy on 19th December 1989 mainly on intercontinental routes, reaching areas with direct flights that had up until then been served somewhat irregularly by a few little-known carriers.
July 1991. In Italy AirEurope introduces the brand new Boeing 767-300ER, aircraft of the latest generation. This allows the Italian market the possibility of carrying a greater number of passengers (267 seats) with non-stop flights,even to far-away destinations (range: about 14 hours).
1992. AirEurope is the first charter company in Italy to offer two different classes of service.
That same year, AirEurope begins incoming charter operations with the Canadian market, followed by the Japanese one, thus bringing foreign passengers into Italy.
18th December 1997. AirEurope introduces its first scheduled flight:
Milan-Havana-Milan. This is quickly followed by two other routes: to Mauritius and Havana from Rome.
July 1998. AirEurope is authorised to run scheduled flights to Jamaica.
1998. SAir Group, to which Swissair belongs, becomes an AirEurope shareholder by purchasing 49.9% of the stake held by its holding company TEGEL.
Q1 April 1999. With this great international alliance, AirEurope joins the "Qualiflyer Group".
15 May 1999. AirEurope starts scheduled domestic flights in Italy. Five daily flights connect Milan to Catania, Naples and Palermo using Airbus 320s with two-class configuration (Business and Economy).
Service on board is enhanced by a revolutionary concept for the Italian national flight sector: light meals - breakfast, lunch or dinner - are served both to Business and Economy class passengers. In addition, Business Class passengers are entitled to extra personalized services (AirEurope Limousine, special check-in counters, etc.).
July 1999. AirEurope is the first airline in southern Europe to use the latest Boeing 777-200IGWs.
While I have never flown Air Europe myself, I do know that they do a lot of charter operations from Italy to Canada. I can't speak for other markets. A typical roundtrip would be Venice - Toronto - Lamezia - Venice.
A number of my relatives have flown wtih them and found the service to be typical of charter operations. The food was not great, but the seats were much cheaper than AZ or CP, the scheduled carriers that serve the Italy-Canadian market.
Programs: UA 1K MM, Starwood Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,648
I guess that as long as I can <b>RELIABLY</b> fly between Milan and Naples then I'll be a happy camper. Food et al won't be important for the 1 hr 20 min intra-Italian flights. I just want to be sure that I'll arrive back in Milan with plenty of time to catch my 12:15 flight on United to IAD. AirEurope has a flight that departs NAP at 7:00AM and arrives at MXP at 8:25AM, which, in theory, should be <b>plenty</b> of time to hook up with my next flight. Unless, of course, they operate like UA Shuttle (another entity somewhat similar to a charter operation) in and out of SFO.
I felt that the AirEurope round trip price of $121 per person was quite reasonable and then I found an even better price listed on their web site:
"Mimosa Fare: women fly from Milan to Bari and Naples (and vice versa) at 99,000 ITL. The companion flies at 59,000 ITL. "
Location: Stockholm, Sweden (EB Gold, HHonors Gold)
Posts: 117
If I'm not mistaken, the carrier that is now named Air Europa was formerly called Air Europe. At least Air Europe used to have the same color scheme on their planes as Air Europa has today (see pictures on http://www.muenster.de/~phkunert/photos.htm and http://www.muenster.de/~phkunert/photos11.htm)
I remember hearing that they changed names after restructing from some economic troubles, but I'm not 100%.
In 1989 I was on a charter flight on Air Europe from MMX to LGW. My biggest impression from that trip is that Air Europe woldn't let me travel by myself because I was under 15 years old! It didn't help that I despite my age had more travel experience than a fair deal of the other passengers; it couldn't be solved without me having to ask a nice-looking couple if they wanted to adopt me, which they of course wanted.
M.
[This message has been edited by Mattis (edited 03-09-2000).]
I was able to determine, however, that the airline code appears to be "PE".
