Qatar Airways acquires 49% of Italian airline Meridiana

Qatar Airways has further strengthened its commitment to Italy, with the acquisition of a 49 per cent of AQA Holding, the new parent company of Meridiana fly (Meridiana), while the previous sole shareholder Alisarda has kept 51 per cent.

Qatar Airways currently flies from Doha to Rome, Venice, Pisa and Milan a total of 42 times per week and this partnership will further strengthen the airline’s ties to Italy, while promoting job creation within the country, and from where it connects passengers to more than 150 destinations around the world.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are delighted to formalise this important partnership, which will help increase Meridiana’s competitiveness in the European market. We look forward to working together to reinforce its position to provide even more connectivity to Italy and other European destinations, as well as those in the US and beyond.”

Under the terms of the Contribution and Shareholders’ Agreement signed in July 2016, Alisarda maintains the right to appoint the majority of the Board members.

Following the closing, the Shareholders’ meetings of AQA Holding and Meridiana appointed today the new Board of directors. Alisarda’s Chairman Marco Rigotti has been appointed Chairman of AQA Holding while Francesco Violante is the new Chairman of Meridiana. Mr Violante has previously been the CEO of SITA until end of June 2016, leaving in at the end October after a very successful 13 years.

In due course, the new Plan for Meridiana will be announced and the new CEO will be appointed. In the meanwhile Mr Rigotti will retain the executive powers as deputy chairman.

The other members of the Boards are, for AQA Holding, Sultan Ali Allana, Corinne Fournot, Daniel Ho and Giles Agutter, and, for Meridiana, Corinne Fournot, Daniel Ho and Giles Agutter.

“I’m really grateful to Minister of Transport Graziano Delrio for his determined and tireless support, encouragement and strong belief in the project,” said Mr. Marco Rigotti, Chairman of Alisarda and AQA Holding. “We are thrilled to begin this partnership project with the world’s best airline. We are now working on an ambitious business plan, with the aim to offer to the passengers new destinations and the highest level of satisfaction. I warmly welcome Francesco and I’m delighted that he accepted to be part of this challenging and
exciting venture”.

Meridiana Chairman, Mr. Francesco Violante, said: “I am very delighted that the Shareholders appointed me as Chairman of Meridiana Board. I am excited to be part of this new venture with the aim of building a strong airline in Italy and in the European market. My priorities will be to create value for the shareholders, to help the management and all the staff to achieve the new business plan and to make our passengers happy to travel with us”.

Meridiana is the second largest Italian carrier, with an extensive network, which connects the main Italian airports with Sardinia and provides connectivity with hubs in Europe as well as in the U.S. and Africa. Meridiana’s fleet consists of Boeing 737s, 767s and MD-82s.

Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, is the world’s fastest-growing airline, flying passengers to an extensive network of more than 150 global destinations on board its modern fleet of 200 aircraft. A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was recently named Airline of the Year by the 2017 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named World’s Best
Business Class, Best Airline in the Middle East, and World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge.