Former airline's first fare from Italy (5)
I believe the answer is:
pasta
'fare from italy' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'former airline's first' is the wordplay.
'former' becomes 'past' (similar in meaning).
'airline's first' becomes 'a' (1st letter of 'airline').
'past'+'a'='PASTA'
(Other definitions for pasta that I've seen before include "dish from Italy" , "Eg, lasagne" , "Rigatoni, tortellini etc" , "Spaghetti, ziti, fusilli, for example" , "Eg, tagliatelle" .)