Italia Trasporto Aereo, or ITA Airways, will celebrate its one-year anniversary tomorrow. Since its maiden flight on October 15, 2021, the airline has carried 9 million passengers and continues to expand.ITA Airways was born in November 2020 but did not commence operations until almost one year later. ITA had purchased the well-known Alitalia and acquired all of Alitalia's aircraft, and just one day before its maiden flight purchased the entire Alitalia brand for €90 million ($105 million at the time).Since that first flight, AZ1637, from Milan Linate to Bari, ITA has carried 9 million passengers. The past year was a year of many firsts for the Italian Airline, who certainly had its fair share of adversity.

"However, in spite of everything, and thanks to the commitment and dedication of the Company's staff, ITA Airways has stuck to its plan, which is grounded in four core objectives sustainability, digitisation, innovation and customer focus – to be achieved under the banner of the Made in Italy." - ITA Airways

To celebrate its one-year anniversary, ITA is launching a new ad campaign. The campaign draws a comparison between the first year of a child's life and the first year of the airline's operations. The message ITA is trying to convey is that, like a child, it has learned many things in its first year of life. The 60-second commercial is titled You Are Our Wings, dedicated to its passengers.

From 52 to 69 aircraft

When ITA Airways acquired Alitalia's fleet, there were 52 aircraft (45 narrowbodies and 7 widebodies). In just one year, the aircraft has increased the fleet by twelve aircraft, including integrating the Airbus A350 and Airbus A220 into the fleet. ITA recently took delivery of the first two A220s, painted in the "Born To Be Sustainable" livery, that will make their first commercial flight on Sunday.

With the addition of four new A220s this month, ITA is on the way to becoming the greenest carrier in Europe, with 80% of its fleet comprised of new generation aircraft by 2026. Compared to the previous generation of aircraft, the A220 will ensure a 25% reduction in fuel consumption and carbon emissions, per passenger.

In addition to the A220, ITA will integrate the A330-900neo, A320neo, and A321neo aircraft into its fleet in the coming months.

Buying the Alitalia brand

As mentioned above, one day before its inaugural flight, ITA purchased the Alitalia brand for €90 million ($105 million at the time). There was speculation that the brand had been purchased in order to prevent future uses, but at the Farnborough Airshow earlier this year, ITA CEO Fabio Lazzerini explained the purchase.

“First of all, because we needed to start on October 15, and all the aircraft to be operated that day were painted with the Alitalia brand. Also, the uniform for most of our crew, apart from a few examples, were still the old Alitalia.”

Had ITA not purchased the Alitalia brand and followed through with its inaugural flight on October 15, 2021, the airline would have faced serious legal trouble.

Have you flown ITA? How was your experience? Did you ever fly Alitalia? Do you feel that ITA has continued Alitalia's legacy while creating its own? Let us know in the comments below!