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Alitalia, the "wings of Italy“ is the largest of Italy’s airlines. Alitalia owns 2 hubs, one in Milan-Malpensa, the other in Rome-Fiumicino, which is also the base of the company.

Until the end of the Second World War the airline was called Ala Littoria and was under the state control of the former fascist government, which, during the war, occupied the entire fleet and integrated it into the Italian air force. After capitulation and the prohibition of air traffic by the allied forces, a national airline was again established in the autumn of 1946 under the auspices of British European Airways and the newly elected parliamentary government of Italy. The airline was given the name Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali. After determining a strategic and well thought out timetable, flight operation was inaugurated in the following spring on the 5th May 1947 on the route from Turin over Rome to the Sicilian capital of Catania. After only half a year, the Italian airline expanded its network of flight routes to include 7 international routes and operated a total of 821 flights on these. On a high after this enormous success, an international timetable was established, with the first route from Rome to Oslo. In the following fall, Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali formed a merger with the formerly trans-regionally operating Linee Aeree Italiane SpA and began to officially trade under its present name of Alitalia. Until the beginning of the 1970s, this company developed routes worldwide and its fleet flew to all inhabited continents. In the following years, Alitalia transferred its hub from Rome to Milan due to increasing and stable economic growth in the northern regions of Italy and the ensuing demand for business class flights. Nevertheless, it continued to maintain its former established base in Rome and flew from there to most European and intercontinental destinations.

Due to financial difficulties and an unsuccessful financial plan on behalf of the management, the Italian government saw reason to privatize the company in the spring of 2007. Possible bidders include the Russian airline Aeroflot, the Italian investment group Mediobanca and the American financial investor Matlin Patterson. However, no buyer has as yet (July 2007) been found for the ailing company.

Alitalia currently owns a total of 180 airplanes of the manufacturers Airbus, Mc Donnell Douglas, Aerospatiale and Embraer and transports about 24 million passengers annually to all parts of the world, with the exception of Australia, flying for example to Amsterdam, Boston, Chennai, Dakar, Kuwait City, Rio de Janeiro und Shanghai.