Idroscalo di Pavia in Pavia, Italy

Idroscalo di Pavia in Pavia, Italy

It is not widely remembered today, but Italy was an important player in the development of long-distance air travel in the 1920s. In that era, seaplanes were preferred for transoceanic flight because if the aircraft couldn't fly, it could still float. That idea reassured nervous passengers. In the mid 1920s, Societá Italiana Servizi Aerei (SISA, or Italian Air Services Company) established a route from Torino to Trieste. Pavia was an intermediat…