ENAV resulted from the transformation of AAAVTAG (Azienda Autonoma di Assistenza al Volo per il Traffico Aereo Generale) in to a Public Body, the “Ente Nazionale di Assistenza al Volo” in 1996.
Subsequently, in 2001, it became a public limited company in the context of the wider process of liberalisation and privatisation of the air transport market. The objective was to achieve efficiency and operational targets, and improve quality and reliability of services, ensuring a high level of safety and quality, as per international standards.
ENAV inherited the job of handling civil air traffic control, which until 1979 was managed by the Italian Air Force and subsequently, from 1982, by AAAVTAG. In 2006 ENAV acquired 100% of Vitrociset Sistemi, today renamed Techno Sky, with the objective of having an efficient maintenance service to enhance and optimise its assets. In 2012 ENAV won a contract to provide consultancy services to the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation, leading to setting up ENAV Asia Pacific the following year, with the aim of diversification in international markets to provide commercial services.
On July 26, 2016 ENAV was listed on the stock exchange, rising from the status of a single member company to subsidiary companies. The MEF holds 53.3% of ENAV.