In addition to charter planes for DMC, incentive trips and to the ACMI activity, That Aviation Italia is also able to organize the seasonal flight series.
This is above all a necessity of the Tour Operators who, when planning travel packages which include flight and stay, must provide for the organization of charter planes to accompany their customers for their pleasure trips.

That Aviation Italia knows this market and Tommaso Maria Pannilini, the co-owner of the company, has a great working experience within Tour Operators.

THAT!
Good morning Tommaso, your role and that of Luigi (e.n. Luigi Annichini, the partner of Tommaso Maria Pannilini) are interchangeable within That Aviation Italia. However, each of you manages your own specific sector, and the flight series for Tour Operators stand out among yours.
Could you say something about it? What was your specific professional training?

Tommaso
There is no doubt that a good part of my education comes from the fact of having lived on the other side of this working reality – the Tour Operator’s side. Fifteen years in Alpitour have definitely left a mark.
By managing the operations related to the aircraft rental for a multitude of destinations, I was able to establish contacts and excellent relations with all of the Italian airline companies and also many foreign carriers; the day they heard of the foundation of THAT!, they did not hesitate to collaborate with us and, therefore, we were able to evaluate and build new interesting synergies.
Having a good number of suppliers available immediately was fundamental; an excellent knowledge of basic mechanisms was an important plus.

THAT!
How much your experience within the Tour Operator as Flight Manager and outside, as a broker and supplier, facilitates you in your work?

Tommaso
As a Tour Operator I dealt with many brokers and perceived their strong and weak points. The Tour Operators do not accept brokers wholeheartedly, considering them a useless intermediary and a simple increase in costs because in their opinion “they can do it alone”. Therefore, the broker can succeed only if offers an “added value”.
We have always worked hard on this. Our way of relating with customers and suppliers is an added value.
We have never proposed our services as brokers or simple suppliers, for these are two empty definitions, with a meaning worthy only of a dictionary or a business card. Anyone who knows us, knows that we go much further. We want to be partners of our customers by sharing their projects and offering our experience to make them reach the full success of their operations.
We are “tailors”: our services are tailor-made!
And the more complicated it is, the more we like it! Our experience is our success.
Our job is to buy to resell: the difficulty is twofold. And having worked in both working realities was fundamental.

THAT!
The ad hoc flight management and flight series management are very different things. What are the differences, and which are the difficulties you must pay attention to?

Tommaso
The flights series, the way THAT! have always imagined it, is a combination of air charter operations. At the operational level it is very similar, and we always do our best for each operation. The difference is in negotiating, in airplane cost while, at an operational level, for what concerns check-in assistance, Tour Operators take on an important part inside the airport. Generally, in this they tend to be very independent. The typical customizations of the ad hoc charter planes are almost non-existent, we, however, are always behind the scenes holding the remote control … and we know which keys to press!

THAT!
What does “work on a flight series” mean? What does the broker do?

Tommaso
Since always among our customers THAT! has the major Tour Operators of the Irish and UK market in addition to the Italian ones. The differences are great because the “modus operandi” is completely different. The relationships are different as well as the basic concepts and dialogues.
Abroad, the aviation broker is a figure that, if accepted, becomes part of the “family” and is given full trust.
The negotiation for the other markets starts six months earlier than in Italy and it is not easy to offer a flight quotation of Italian carriers with this advance. The Italian companies are never ready and are always waiting to know what our operators have to say. They must be pushed, and a lot!
However, we were able to involve almost all of them to the great satisfaction of the parties and when customers are of this level, everything runs smoothly.
The broker must also follow the requests for special assistance which abroad are at least ten times higher in respect to the Italian market. We became experts in every type of medical and auxiliary machinery to take on board; of each battery and prosthesis material. We know every allergy and symptomatology that a passenger might have. Sounds incredible, but it’s true!
In Italy, we are far behind this, but That Aviation Italia will always do its best to ensure that a handicapped passenger can fully enjoy his flight.
The on-board service is also different according to the market. For one UK customer we also had to request the change of the uniforms of the on-board personnel!
Those markets have “the easy lawyer” and we must be at the side of the parties to settle down any situation. There is a great job behind the control of the service …
To tell one, a big problem has always been that of milk on board: if English or Irish customer does not have milk for tea on board, he writes to you … and you have to answer!
We know it, so the fresh milk on board our organized flights is never missing!

THAT!
Why a Tour Operator chooses to rely on THAT! for its flight series?

Tommaso
It is an added value that plays the key role. The relationship with the airline companies are crucial for the availability of the aircraft to be sold at the best price. There are carriers that enter the market for the first time and prefer to rely on those who already know this market.
THAT! offers only reliable companies of proven quality. Those who chose us have always returned. This speaks for itself. They taught us the importance of efficiency and quality and we offer this. I think that this motivation is enough …

THAT!
Among the many managed flights, is there any you remember for specific difficulties or anecdotes?

Tommaso
There have always been and always will be strange or anomalous things. The difficulties, especially in recent years, are on the agenda. But we have always overcome them with constancy and perseverance. It is part of our job.

THAT!
What are the main destinations for Tour Operator’s flight series?

Tommaso
The classic destinations are Italy – Spain flights, flights to Corfu and Greece in general, charter flights in Italy.
Now we have the great emptiness of Egypt which was a total of 45% charter flights from Italy.
There is a great void also for all destinations like Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.
For foreign markets we have always managed series for Lake Garda and the Alps. This year we added Naples and we hope to increase further.

That Aviation Italia: your trusted broker also for flight series.

For any further information and flight price quotation, please contact us.