Italy's new national airline has revealed its fleet plans. It will replace Alitalia. It's not what we expected.
The basics of ITA Italy's new national airline
After years of financial difficulties, Alitalia will be closing its doors on October 15, 2021. Italia Trasporto Aereo will replace the airline, which will have a clean financial statement.
Many people have asked whether ITA would look significantly different from Alitalia. There had been talk about ITA bidding for many Alitalia assets, including its fleet and name.
ITA just released its fleet plans and it will look a lot different from the Alitalia fleet.
Mid-October will see the end of Alitalia's operations
ITA announces strategic partnership with Airbus
Italy's new national airline, ITA, has chosen Airbus to be its strategic partner. The airline has ordered new Airbus aircraft and plans to lease existing Airbus aircraft. This plan will ensure that ITA's fleet is entirely Airbus-based.
To begin, ITA and Airbus have signed a memorandum d'accord for the purchase of 28 aircraft. The planes will be delivered in the second quarter of 2022. This order includes:
10 Airbus A330neo aircraft
11 Airbus A320neo family aircraft
Seven Airbus A220 aircraft
ITA also has an agreement with Air Lease Corporation to lease additional Airbus aircraft. These aircraft can be short- and long-haul aircraft as well as long-haul aircraft. These will include:
13 Airbus A350-900 aircraft
A few Airbus short-haul aircraft are available; details are still a little fuzzy
ITA will operate a fleet consisting of 52 Airbus aircraft over the next few months. The plan also includes plans to increase the fleet to 105 Airbus aircraft by 2025. ITA will work with six aircraft leasing partners to eventually have a fleet of 105 aircraft. This is more efficient than Alitalia's 12 leasing partners.
According to the airline, the economics of these deals are excellent and the financing costs are far lower than Alitalia's. The airline also hopes to save money by operating an all-Airbus fleet.
Some details are still unknown. For example, ITA plans to launch operations in less than two weeks. So which planes will it initially have? Some of these planes may be delivered over the next few months. But what about the rest?
ITA has partnered with Airbus to provide its fleet
I am suddenly more excited about Italy's new airline
To be honest, I expected that Italy's new airline would be almost identical to Alitalia in terms of the name, the planes and the fleet. I'm a little more excited about this airline now that we know that ITA will have a totally different fleet from Alitalia.
ITA will fly A350-900s, A330neos and A330neos long haul and A320neos short haul. If you ask me, that's an amazing fleet. I can't wait to see which seats ITA chooses for these planes.
ITA will likely have a new product in its business class
Bottom line
ITA, Italy's national airline, will begin operations on October 15, 2021. This coincides with the end of Alitalia operations. It is exciting to finally have a glimpse of the plans for the airline.
ITA has decided to fly only Airbus aircraft. Airbus has already ordered A330neos and A320neos from ITA. Deliveries are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022. In addition to A350s and other narrow-body aircraft, the airline will lease dozens more planes.
What do you think of ITAs fleet plan?
