IT WAS THE EARLY HOURS OF A QUITE MISTY MORNING ON THE 8TH MARCH 2002, WHEN A BOEING 737-800 CAME OUT OF THE PRODUCTION LINE OF BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRLINE (BCA) IN SEATTLE 10 DAYS BEFORE, WITH A WHITE AND BLUE BODY AND A BIG RED SMILE ON THE TAIL, WELCOMED ON BOARD THE FIRST PASSENGERS IN THE SQUARE IN FRONT OF TERMINAL 1 OF THE AIRPORT MILAN- MALPENSA.
AT THE END OF THE WINGS THE WINGLETS IN THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE ON AN ITALIAN AIRLINE AIRCRAFT AND WITH ITS NAME ON THE FUSELAGE NEW AS ITS DESTINATION: CAPE SKIRRING IN SENEGAL, AND THEN THE CAPITAL DAKAR.
IT WAS THE MAIDEN FLIGHT OF NEOS WITH ITS FIRST AIRCRAFT REGISTERED AS THE COMPANY (I-NEOS) AND NAMED ‘CITTÀ DI MILANO’.
A DOUBLE MEANING FOR NEOS. It means new in modern Greek and refers to the cardinal points of the pointed rose of four wind, North-East, West and South, it was created on the 21st June 2001. It was the result of a joint project, a joint-venture between IFIL, an important Italian financial company from Turin, with a capital investment of 90% in the Group Alpitour, and PREUSSAG, an European leading company in tourism, with relevant economic interests in three other companies, the German Hapag Lloyd, the British Airways and the Corsair in France.
“With a capital of 4,5 million euros and the business plan approved by Alpitour
Group, as the Manager Director Carlo Stradiotti recalls, ‘we began to write our story. At that time we were a small group of 40 people, including the Director of Flight Operations, or Flight Operations Postholder according to the new regulations, and the Technical Director. We opened a first open space office in Case Nuove of Somma Lombardo, not far from the two Terminals in Malpensa and we decided the model of the aircraft to be the Boeing 737-800. This would be a new generation of airplanes with a completely new wing and the navigation instruments indicators in crystal liquid and above all the winglets, which benefit would be a major autonomy not penalizing the cargo transported with more stability both in the taking off and during the whole flight.
In 2002, on the 8th March - Women’s Day -, NEOS takes off on its first commercial flight – NO 6350 – to Senegal, from Milan to Cape Skirring and Dakar back to Milan. The call-sign for the air traffic controllers was ‘moonflower’ the title of a famous song of the Mexican singer Carlos Santana. This was the first step towards the realization of a precise target of the company: make our clients to be on holidays straightaway. In the same year our staff has peaked its 70 member units, mainly licensed pilots and flight assistants, meanwhile we added I-NEOT ‘Città di Torino” to the I-NEOS, a second brand new B737-800W (Winglet) in order to fly over a wider area, not just Senegal but Turkey, Spain, Egypt and Tel Aviv in Israel.
The third twin-engined, identical to the two previous ones, in the configuration of the passenger cabin as well, comes into the fleet on the 2nd February 2003 and it
is called ‘Città di Verona’ with the logo I-NEOU. We increased new connections, not only charter flights, but several new special flights for football teams in the occasion of the Champions League in Manchester in May 2003, and for conventions with important companies like Ferrero, Telecom, BMW or for charity flight (to Malawi on account of the City of Rome), or in sub-charter for other airlines such as Tui Group in the first place.
THE LONG-HAUL. IN 2004 AN IMPORTANT CHANGE OF NEOS OWNERSHIP OCCURS, which made it exclusively Italian, the brand logo, which replaced the smile on the aircraft tail with a small Mediterranean swallow, and the introduction of the fourth airplane ( INEOX ‘Città di Bologna’).
Other cities such Moscow, Saint Peterborough were added as new destinations to the social network. The website (www.neosair.it) and the NEOS In-Flight magazine were increased and restyled with new monthly issues and more pages. Meanwhile in October Lupo Rattazzi was appointed New Chairman. In 2005 we introduced a new range of destinations: long-haul or intercontinental flights from Malpensa to Avana and Montego Bay in Jamaica, with a Boeing 767-300ER (Extended Range) on leasing from the Loftleider Icelandic, officially launched on the 17th December 2004. The start of the long distance flights soon became a success and it took place with a particular request of the Alpitour Group. In December 2005 the Boeing 767-300ER El-DMJ ‘Ciudad de la Habana’, the first one of the two intercontinental flights by NEOS,
arrived at Malpensa from the United States, exactly from Greensboro in North Carolina, where Timco completely revised and modified the passenger cabin from the previous standards of the Dutch KLM, installing 280 seats in an exclusive class, afterwards modified by the introduction of the Business Class – NEOS CLASS. In May 2006 the second B767-300ER (EI-DOF named ‘Città di Roma’), previously part of the KLM fleet, as it was the first one, got NEOS colours. From that day up to now lots of changes have come about, as the extention on the long-haul flights of Sky TG24 and like an important date, 2nd December 2009, when the company became part of IACA (International Air Carrier Association).In a five-year period the number of passengers has constantly increased and the economic budgets have always been positive, also thanks to a number of business actions that have brought the fleet abroad for short or long period of time. Let’s talk about the leasing to Tunisair, Aerosvit in Ukranie, Israir in Israel, Nasair in Eritrea, Flyglobespan in Great Britain, and the most important one to Air Algerie, that has used a B373-800W and a B767-300ER both for national and international flights and to transport Muslin pilgrims to the Mecca for the Haji for 18 months.
TODAY NEOS IS CONSIDERED THE MOST PUCTUAL AIRLINE according to a survey carried out by the association ‘Altroconsumo’ in April 2006. It is also reconfirmed the best airline within the Italian National borders by the same association in spring 2010. The company relies on a fleet of 8 airplanes (6 Boeing 737-800W, or Winglet
with 186 seats in Exclusive Class and 2 Boeing 767-800ERW or Extended Range Winglets with 284 seats in two classes, 12 in Business Class and 172 in Economy). Our air routes are from 4 hubs (Milan/Malpensa, Bergamo, Bologna and Verona) arriving in 17 countries in winter (Antigua, Barbuda, French Antilles, Cape Verde, Cuba, Unites Emirates, Egypt, Jamaica, Jordan, Israel, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mexico, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Spain, Tanzania). Seasonal flights are added to Greece, Turkey (and to Morocco Syria, Tunisia in these last years) to Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle-East and Central America. NEOS staff members are more than 400, and with a few exceptions, are all Italian. By our bilingual, Italian and English, online booking web site ‘Volo come Voglio’ (Fly the way I want) completely updated recently, you can book and buy your ticket just in 3 clicks. Our in-flight magazine, issued every 3 months, makes maximum use of photographic contents with a worthy graphical design. Our company has taken more than 7 million passengers in ten years, landing 348 airports in the world, with more than 58.449 departures and 200.345 flying time achieved by our pilots. We cannot forget our on board entertainment program like films in prime vision changed every so often, projected on a big screen but also on a smaller screen called EVU; nine music channels in agreement with Radio Italia, video programs with the contribution of well-known TV personalities such as Paolo Belli, Raoul Cremona, Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo and Paolo Rossi; and also of course documentaries about tourism, sport, beauty and other issues.
Significant is also the professional competence of
our on board personnel, in the pilot cabin as well as in direct contact with our passengers. And add to this, our excellent gourmet service with the best Italian regional cousine and fine doc Italian wines served in crystal glasses, stainless steel cutlery and porcelain bowls. Not forgetting our ice cream and of course the classic espresso. We have a particular attention to our younger passengers, dedicating them a music channel with fairy tales and nursery rhymes, offering ecofriendly game to spend a better time on board.
ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH. THE LOGOS AND WRITINGS on our airplanes highlight the several partnerships with Maserati, Nomadi, and Veronesi Foundation; we demonstrate that for us it is important the respect for environment and health. We take care of this having obtained a level 4 certificate for the ‘noise abatement’, that is considered the most evaluated noise control for commercial airlines and the use of the winglets which reduces the emission of carbon oxide or CO2 thanks to the minor fuel consumption. The seats are made by eco-leather and the material used for cooking are recycled in the intent not to harm the environment as less as possible. We take care of your health, proposing natural drinks without coloring agents, artificial sweeteners and caffeine and using the innovative lightening system in the passenger cabin on the Boeing 767-300ERW, called ‘mood light’. The passage from the night light to the daylight is extremely soft, with the ‘wake up’ function using colors close to dawn. The reduction of jet lag sickness on long-haul
flights is obtained using a soft indirect light led-system gradually modulated in different stages of the flight.
Our agreement with CIRM (International Medical Radio Centre) in Rome is important for the First Aid on board, above all for long distance flights.
It’s ten years since the I-NEOS has taken off from one of the two runways in Milano/Malpensa for the first time. The enthusiasm of our personnel and staff has not changed and we continue to overcome the daily professional challenges.
Massimo Dominelli
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