ITA Airways received its first A220-100 and awaits the arrival of the first A321neo. The Italian airline shared images on its X account of the first A321neo emerging from the paint hangar in Hamburg and the first A220-100 moments before its delivery.
On October 31, the first A220-100 from ITA departed from the facilities of Airbus Canada, flying non-stop between Montreal, Mirabel (YMX), and Rome (FCO), completing the journey in 8 hours and 40 minutes.
The A220 registered as EI-HLA will soon be incorporated into ITA’s schedule. This A220 variant can operate at London City Airport (LCY), one of Europe’s most challenging airports.
Meanwhile, the A321neo with registration EI-HXA emerged from the paint hangar in Hamburg to undergo the final tests before being delivered to the Italian airline. The A321neo fleet will be configured to carry 165 passengers in three classes.
ITA Airways’ Growth
In November 2022, the company announced a significant fleet expansion with the acquisition of 39 Airbus aircraft, including 30 narrow-body and 9 wide-body planes. In May, ITA received its first Airbus A330-900neo, which complements the A350-900 fleet that began arriving in May 2022.
Since taking over from the now-defunct Alitalia, ITA Airways has focused on strengthening its fleet to expand its global destination network. In October 2021, the airline inherited part of Alitalia’s fleet to kickstart its operations, receiving: 19 Airbus A319, 33 Airbus A320ceo, and 8 A333-200.
The company had ordered 78 aircraft to be received between 2022 and 2025. The first arrivals included four Airbus A220-300 under an agreement with the lessor Air Lease Corporation and six Airbus A350-900 via ALAFCO and AFS. The remaining orders consist of:
- Agreement with Airbus: seven A220-100/300, eleven Airbus A320neo, and ten A330-900.
- Air Lease Corporation (ALC): eleven Airbus A220-300, two A320neo, ten A321neo (LR), and five A330neo.
- AerCap: ten Airbus A320neo and two A330-900.
- Avolon: four Airbus A350-900.
As of today, ITA Airways’ fleet comprises 1 Airbus A220-100, 7 A220-300, 17 A319, 25 A320ceo, 13 A320neo, 7 A330-200, 5 A330-900neo, and 6 A350-900XWB.
