Summary
- ITA Airways has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321neo.
- The brand new aircraft has a three-class configuration with 165 passenger capability and features the most recent generation “on-demand” entertainment system.
- ITA Airways goals to modernize its fleet by retiring older models and has a goal of reaching a ratio of 5,500 employees and 94 aircraft by 2027. The airline’s fleet diversity aligns with the Lufthansa Group’s integration plans.
ITA Airways and Airbus held a delivery ceremony for the Italian carrier’s first Airbus A321neo. This event took place within the European OEM’s manufacturing facility in Hamburg, as ITA Airways increased its fleet size and now operates six different Airbus aircraft families (and iterations) despite only having 88 jets overall.
A brand new member of the ITA Airways family
On Friday, ITA Airways took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo aircraft. The brand new narrowbody jet sports the airline’s blue livery, named after Massimiliano Rosolino, an Italian swimmer and Olympic champion in Sydney in 2000. This plane has a capability for 165 passengers in a three-class configuration, including 141 seats in economy, 12 in premium economy, and 12 in business, in keeping with data from ch-aviation. As well as, each seat is provided with the most recent generation “on-demand” video and audio entertainment system featuring 17.3” (business), 15.6” (premium economy), and 13.3” (economy) low reflectance touchscreen displays with 4K resolution for a straightforward, smooth, and intuitive user experience.
Francesco Presicce, ITA Airways Chief Technology Officer and Accountable Manager, said,
ITA Airways – an Airbus fan
Despite only having a fleet of 88 jets, ITA Airways is understood for having aircraft from six different Airbus families, plus three wet-leased CRJ1000ERs. ITA Airways has planes from the next families: Airbus A220s, A320ceos, A320neos, A330ceos, A330neos, and A350s.
ch-aviation’s database, ITA Airways has one Airbus A220-100, seven A220-300s, 18 A319ceos, 26 A320ceos, 13 A320neos, one A321neo, eight A330-200s, five A330-900s, and 6 A350-900s on its fleet.
Photo: ITA Airways.
Francesco Presicce said:
This amount of fleet diversity has raised questions amongst specialists in regards to the ultimate goal of getting so many differing types of aircraft operated by a comparatively small company.
Ultimately, ITA Airways is modernizing its fleet, with 63 still on order. These planes will help the Italian company retire older models resembling the A319s, A320ceos, and the A330-200s. Per a Cirium evaluation, ITA’s objective is to achieve an affordable ratio of 5,500 employees and 94 aircraft (58:1) by 2027.
Furthermore, ITA Airways’ love for the Airbus brand is a bonus for the Lufthansa Group (which is trying to have its stake acquisition of the Italian company approved early next 12 months). The present ITA fleet simplifies integration into Lufthansa Group, with the one recent variant being the A330neo.
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