IDAWA From Italy, joined Aug 2004, 301 posts, RR: 0 Posted (8 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 7666 times:
Nearly 29 years after the first two Alitalia MD-82s - I-DAWA "Roma" and I-DAWE "Milano" - were delivered, the Italian flag carrier will be retiring the type by October 2012.
This marks as well the end of Alitalia DC-9 operations, that started in 1967 with a -32 frame, I-DIKA.
In order to celebrate this event, the Aviazione Civile association (www.aviazionecivile.it), in cooperation with Alitalia, is organizing a MXP-MXP farewell roundtrip on October 13. The flight will last about one hour and will overfly scenic landscapes such as the Mont Blanc and the Garda Lake. A farewell toast will be part of the onboard service.
The flight will be operated by a 141-seater MD-82, the candidates being I-DACR ("Carrara", 1990), I-DACS ("Maratea", 1990), I-DACZ ("Castelfidardo", 1991), I-DATM ("Cividale del Friuli", 1995). The aircraft will feature some extra-comfort "Poltrona Sorrento" seats, much more comfortable than any short-haul business class of the 2010s, that can be booked in advance.
Anyone interested to be part of this flight may leave a post on the Aviazione Civile's forum at http://www.aviazionecivile.org/vb/sh...Bye-MD-80-quot-13-OTTOBRE-2012**** . Indicative prices for non-members of the Aviazione Civile association are 99 € for the MXP-MXP roundtrip, or 129 € for the roundtrip plus the positioning flight to and from FCO (so FCO-MXP-MXP-FCO).
The flight will take place only if a significant number of participants is achieved.
American 767 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 3321 posts, RR: 14 Reply 5, posted (7 months 3 weeks 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 6169 times:
I would do it if I were in Italy, either in Rome or in Milan. But never mind, I flew on those recently with American. Enjoy the party. I remember spotting Alitalia DC-9s and MD-80s in BRU for years.
So SAS will soon be the only major European airline still flying the MD-80, and maybe one of only three major airlines in the world still flying the MD-80 of any variant, the other two being American and Delta.
Ben Soriano
"Aimer jusqu'a l'impossible, c'est possible". Tina Arena.
IDAWA From Italy, joined Aug 2004, 301 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (7 months 3 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 5595 times:
Quoting American 767 (Reply 5): So SAS will soon be the only major European airline still flying the MD-80, and maybe one of only three major airlines in the world still flying the MD-80 of any variant, the other two being American and Delta.
Meridiana, Italy's second-largest airline, is still flying 10 of them.
na From Germany, joined Dec 1999, 9614 posts, RR: 10 Reply 7, posted (7 months 3 weeks 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 5493 times:
Wow, they have accelerated the MD-82s retirement. Wasnt it planned that the last ones should stay one more year until recently? So now only SAS remains, and soon the MD-80 is a thing of the past in Europe.
777klm From China, joined Apr 2005, 482 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (7 months 3 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 5365 times:
Quoting American 767 (Reply 5): So SAS will soon be the only major European airline still flying the MD-80, and maybe one of only three major airlines in the world still flying the MD-80 of any variant, the other two being American and Delta.
TrijetsRMissed From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 2099 posts, RR: 6 Reply 11, posted (7 months 3 weeks 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 5059 times:
Thanks for sharing, IDAWA. I would attend in a heartbeat if I was in Italy. Classy move on AZ's part to commemorate the end of an era.
Quoting IDAWA (Reply 6):
Meridiana, Italy's second-largest airline, is still flying 10 of them.
Do we know how much longer IG plan to operate them?
cedarjet From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 7713 posts, RR: 55 Reply 12, posted (7 months 3 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 4921 times:
Luckily I will be in transit in MXP on that day, along with fellow a.netter TUGMASTER. Have booked and looking forward to saying goodbye to Alitalia's dear old Mad Dogs.
Hope to see a few other a.netters on the day.
fly Saha Air 707s daily from Tehran's downtown Mehrabad to Mashhad, Kish Island and Ahwaz
IDAWA From Italy, joined Aug 2004, 301 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (7 months 3 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 4888 times:
Quoting TrijetsRMissed (Reply 11): Classy move on AZ's part to commemorate the end of an era.
I think it has been more a move originating from the Aviazione Civile association chartering an Alitalia MD-80, rather than something from Alitalia itself. Possibly Alitalia provided some kind of support to the initiative, but I really don't know the details.
TrijetsRMissed From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 2099 posts, RR: 6 Reply 17, posted (7 months 1 week 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 4046 times:
Quoting cedarjet (Reply 14): Quoting IDAWA (Reply 13):
Possibly Alitalia provided some kind of support to the initiative, but I really don't know the details.
At €99 for the commemorative flight or a mere €129 for FCO-MXP-MXP-FCO - yes, I think AZ are definitely being very supportive!
I couldn't agree more, cedarjet. My point exactly.
RayChuang From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 7696 posts, RR: 5 Reply 18, posted (7 months 1 week 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 3900 times:
I'm actually a little surprised that Alitalia has kept their MD-80 series planes up till now, considering the increasingly strict EU noise regulations.
cedarjet From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 7713 posts, RR: 55 Reply 19, posted (7 months 1 week 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 3840 times:
Just landed after a fantastic 54 minute flight over Italy. Was cloudy so not much sighseening but we were there for the MD-80 and the extremely sporty takoff and fantastic style of the Italian classic, the AZ Mad Dog.
Crew were extremely kind and the champagne was liberally poured. The organisers had certificates, safety cards and photos of the aircraft for everyone. Pilots pulled off a long float and a perfect touchdown accompanied by applause from the happy punters.
Photos on the ramp (including a group photo of all the passengers and crew) before we reboarded buses back to the terminal and said farewell to a staple of European skies for decades - thank you Alitalia MD-80 for all the memories!
fly Saha Air 707s daily from Tehran's downtown Mehrabad to Mashhad, Kish Island and Ahwaz
TrijetsRMissed From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 2099 posts, RR: 6 Reply 20, posted (7 months 1 week 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 3589 times:
Quoting RayChuang (Reply 18):
I'm actually a little surprised that Alitalia has kept their MD-80 series planes up till now, considering the increasingly strict EU noise regulations.
For foreign carriers, no airline, other than perhaps SK, has been more loyal to the MD-80 as AZ.
alitalia744 From United States of America, joined Mar 2000, 4658 posts, RR: 45 Reply 21, posted (7 months 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 3559 times:
Farewell "Super Ottanta Alitalia!"
Amazing birds and spent quite a few summers hopping around Italy on Alitalia and Ati MD-82s.
777 From Italy, joined Sep 2005, 497 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (7 months 1 week 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 2774 times:
I was there as well and I really enjoyed the flights: FCO-MXP-ALL (Albenga, used as fictive destination in the DCS)-MXP-FCO).
It has been really exciting to take off in FCO with an almost empty aircraft (28 pax + the crew, 45 Ton of TOW and a VR set at only 120KTS) and to get some other 80 people on board at MXP for the commemorative flight.
An unforgettable day with unforgettable friends.
Here below the link to one of the Trip Report publishe on the Aviazione Civile website (the private association that organized the event)
25 TrijetsRMissed: Glad to see some of you were able to attend; and thanks for posting on the experience for those of us who were unable to make it. I find it interestin
26 777: In the meanwhile, other two aircraft types are leaving the AZ fleet (the 767s and the CRJ900s) so at the beginning of 2013 AZ is likely to have one of
27 Fraport: Which aircraft (registration) operated this last flight?
28 777: I-DATI: if you click on the link I have posted above, there are a lot of pictures of the event
29 TrijetsRMissed: Great observation. Forgive me, I do not follow AZ closely; are the sub-fleet's of these types owned by AZ or leased? If owned, what ratio are paid-of
30 alitalia610: Actually the real last scheduled AZ Md-80's flight will be CTA-FCO the 27th October(this saturday evening). I'm already booked on that flight...
31 alitalia610: Yesterday evening flight AZ1740 CTA-FCO was the last ever scheduled flight for Alitalia's Md80s...and as i said i was on that flight. To be precise it
32 TrijetsRMissed: Is the water cannon salute more of an American tradition? Is this not a given in Europe or Italy with retirement flights? Seems incredibly remiss...
33 YYCspotter: Does the AirTran (STB Southwest) fleet of 717s count?
34 American 767: No. AirTran isn't a major airline. Neither is Allegiant. Neither is Meridiana. And those 717s are going to Delta. I believe that Southwest is going t
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I couldn't agree more, cedarjet. My point exactly. 
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