The Italian state-owned airline has confirmed an order for 28 Airbus aircraft, including seven A220s, eleven A320neo, and ten A330neo. Following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) announced on September 30, 2021, the Italian state-owned company has placed an order for 28 Airbus aircraft, including seven A220s, eleven A320neo, and ten A330neo.
These company-owned aircraft will be complemented by agreements with Air Lease Corporation and other lessors for 56 long- and short-range aircraft, including thirteen Airbus A350-900s, to be delivered between 2022 and 2025.
The company currently operates eighteen A319ceo, twenty-seven Airbus A320ceo, and seven A330ceo legacies from Alitalia aircraft, which once deliveries of the agreed aircraft begin will be phased out.
«Today the strategic partnership with Airbus is taking an important milestone with the finalization of the order we announced last September. In conjunction with this agreement, opportunities for collaboration emerged, particularly in terms of technological development in the aviation sector and digitalization. It’s all part of our efforts to achieve our targets for environmental sustainability, » said Alfredo Altavilla, CEO of ITA Airways.
«We are very proud to partner with ITA Airways in building its long-term future with the most efficient, state-of-the-art Airbus aircraft. This agreement supports ITA Airways’ commercial objectives to develop its network across Europe and globally in the most sustainable way,» added Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer, and Airbus Chief International Officer.
ITA Airways is nowhere near the flagship Alitalia, which had more than 100 aircraft and an extensive network of destinations. Nevertheless, it is expected that by 2025 it will regain much of its structure. Currently, the Italian market is largely dominated by Volotea, Ryanair, Easyjet, and Wizz Air.
See also: ITA Airways sees in Lufthansa Group a «rich and attractive partner».
To cope with this competition, the Italian government is negotiating with other major companies to partner up, with the likes of Air France-KLM, Lufthansa Group, and even Delta under the radar. So far, they have only agreed to join the Skyteam alliance and codeshare with Air Serbia, Air Malta, and Air Europa.
