ITA Airways, Italy’s state-owned airline venture, has received its first Airbus A321neo this Friday (10). The delivery of the brand-new aircraft, registered EI-HXA and named «Massimiliano Rosolino» after the Italian Olympic swimmer, was celebrated in Airbus’ Hamburg facilities.
The aircraft comes with a different configuration than the other narrowbodies in ITA Airways’ fleet: it has three-classes instead of the usual «Eurobusiness» set-up, where all seats are Economy, but the front rows have the middle seat blocked and sold as Business.
As such, according to a press release by Airbus, ITA’s first A321neo has 165 seats: twelve in Business class (lie-flat), twelve in Premium Economy with a four-abreast configuration, and 141 in Economy, with twelve of these sold as «Comfort Economy», with additional space for the legs. In comparison, the airline’s A320neos have 180 seats. Counting with Airbus’ Airspace cabin, the aircraft is also configured with personal screens in the three classes, as well as wi-fi.
EI-HXA was transferred to the airline’s main base in Rome/Fiumicino. According to a press release by ITA, it will now be inspected by the Italian civil aviation regulator, ENAC, before its maiden commercial operations, expected for «the upcoming weeks». The aircraft is leased from Air Lease Corporation (ALC).
«With the arrival of the Airbus A321neo, ITA Airways fleet will include all the last generation Airbus aircraft families – the A220, A320, A330 and A350″, stated ITA Airways’ Chief Technology Officer and Accountable Manager, Francesco Presicce. «Completely built according to ITA Airways’ new cabin design, the new A321neo will enable us to further develop our international network.»
«In terms of type and internal configuration, the new aircraft is ideal for the Company’s upcoming routes (Middle East and Africa)», added the executive. «I would like to thank the entire team involved in the project for their commitment to achieving such a prestigious result for a young carrier with an ever-expanding fleet size.»
