Italy’s Meridiana Relaunches as Air Italy

The Italian aviation market continues to provide headlines as it was announced on Monday that Sardinian-based carrier Meridiana would be rebranded as Air Italy with fleet expansion plans and a base at Milan Malpensa. The announcement confirms months of speculation that a shake-up of the operation was imminent after Qatar Airways acquired a 49 percent stake of Meridiana’s, now Air Italy's, parent company, AQA Holding in September 2017. At the time of the acquisition, Qatar Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker proclaimed…