Page:NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SURVEY 17; ITALY; TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS CIA-RDP01-00707R000200080003-4.pdf/36

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200080003-4

SAM, on behalf of Alitalia, operates charter flights from Italy to central and northern Europe.

Rome-based Aerolinee Itavia, S.P.A., which operates four Handley Page Herald 200's, three Fokker F-28's, and three Douglas DC 9-10's, is a privately owned airline providing scheduled service to 17 domestic points and to Basle and Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, Itavia performs domestic and European short-haul charter services.

Alisarda, S.P.A. is a privately owned airline based in Olbia, Sardinia. Formed in 1963 as an air taxi and charter operator, Alisarda now provides regularly scheduled service to five domestic points and seasonal service to Ajaccio, Corsica, and Nice, France. Aertirrena, S.P.A., also privately owned, operates air taxi and charter services and provides seasonal taxi and charter services and provides seasonal scheduled feeder services in northern Italy. In addition to light aircraft, the Aertirrena fleet has three Soviet-built YAK 40 aircraft. Compagnia Italiana Elicotteri S.R.L. (CIE) operates seasonal helicopter service between Rimini and the principality of San Marino.

The following 138 civil aircraft of at least 20,000 pounds gross weight are registered in Italy, including one foreign-owned:

An estimated total of 17,100 persons are engaged in civil aviation activities, including at least 1,200 commercial pilots. Alitalia, Italy's largest airline, has about 14,300 employees, including over 3,500 maintenance personnel and about 1,100 pilots. ATI employs about 750 personnel; Itavia, 400; and Alisarda, 100.

Basic flight training is available through some 60 aero clubs and several flight training schools. The most important flight training school is the Alitalia Training Center at Rome's Fiumicino Airport. Here, Alitalia offers a complete range of training capable of preparing students with no flight experience to become commercial pilots. The center is equipped with flight simulators for most of the aircraft in the Alitalia fleet. According to the terms of the ATLAS agreement, Alitalia will provide DC 10 flight simulator training for members of the consortium (Air France, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Sabena, and Iberian airlines); however, Boeing 747 flight simulator training is provided by Lufthansa at its facility in West Germany.

Civil aircraft maintenance is centered primarily at Alitalia's base in Rome. Standards are high, and facilities compare favorably with those of other major international carriers. In addition to its own fleet, Alitalia maintains and overhauls the ATI DC 9 aircraft and the SAM Caravelle and DC 6 aircraft and also performs maintenance for various non-Italian carriers such as Zambia Airways and Somalia Airlines. Alitalia handles powerplant support in collaboration with the Alfa Romeo Company, which takes care of major repair and overhaul work. Maintenance of Alitalia's DC 10 and Boeing 747 aircraft is accomplished in accordance with the ATLAS agreement. In the context of this agreement, Alitalia has no major maintenance responsibility for the DC 10 aircraft but does share responsibility with Sabena to perform systems and electronic overhaul for the consortium's Boeing 747 aircraft. At least 15 commercial enterprises, including Alfa Romeo, provide extensive instrument, electrical, and hydraulic component overhaul.

Responsibility for controlling civil aviation is assigned to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. However, actual operational responsibility rests with a subordinate agency, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation. The national civil airways system is operated by the Ministry of Defense.

The government subsidizes development of civil aviation, including annual payments to Alitalia and its subsidiary companies. Aeroclubs and training schools are also subsidized.

Italy is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization and is a signatory of the principal international civil aviation conventions. In the commercial field, Alitalia belongs to the International Air Transport Association and participates in numerous pooling arrangements with foreign airlines. The government has entered into formal or informal civil air agreements with at least 62 countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the U.S.S.R., and Yugoslavia. Linking Italy with 114 cities in 75 countries are 62 foreign air carriers, including the national airlines from the above-mentioned countries.

J. Airfields' (C)

Italy has 150 usable airfields, 11 seaplane stations, and 79 sites. Of the usable airfields, 54 are military, 19 are civil, 30 are joint military/civil, and 47 are private.

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200080003-4