did you really have that ?
Yes, 2007.
The problem was that nobody answered the phone the day before, so I sent in a few faxes, and the next day we departed early, but got refused on the grounds of no PNR.
Certain people do not like me repeating this stuff, and there are many pilots who fly to Italy without issues (as I have done on other occassions) but Italy is a bit of a world of its own where things don't happen as expected.
Oddly enough I prefer Greece which, though a "similar sort of country" when it comes to doing business, is straightforward to fly around. Also the airport employees seem to speak English well there; I never had any issues. Again, there are the bad cases and you must never fly to Corfu LGKR without a
written PPR confirmation (verbal ones have resulted in a refusal to land).