The first commercial flight in Italy was started in 1923,[2] but it reached full international service only with "Ala Littoria" that was promoted by Mussolini with a name related to the "Fasci Littori" of his Fascism.

Like many other European nations did in their early phases of civil aviation, Italy initially formed several small companies that struggled to provide a modest level of passenger service.

In fact, Italian commercial aviation in 1930 was third in terms of the number of passengers carried, after Germany and France, and ahead of Great Britain and the Netherlands.

Ala Littoria acquired 12,5 % of the airline and purchased three Junkers Ju 52 airframes without engines from Lufthansa, giving them to Iberia in lieu of capital.

[7] It connected Rome with Mogadiscio in Italian East Africa, and from 1939 the route could be travelled without a change of airplane[8] with a state-of-the-art- Savoia Marchetti (civilian) SM 75.