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ITA Airways
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- AZ/ITY
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Rome Fiumicino Airport
- Year Founded:
- 2020
- Alliance:
- SkyTeam
- CEO:
- Fabio Lazzerini
- Country:
- Italy
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Rising (or taking off) from the ashes of failed Italian airline Alitalia, ITA Airways is hoping to chart its own course and avoid the financial peril that its predecessor faced. Having begun operations in mid-October 2021, the airline was given a fairly fresh start - with all the challenges that come with it.Rebuilding its fleet and re-establishing routes has been no simple task, but its leadership is determined to craft an airline that Italians can be proud of. The competition is fierce, and the post-pandemic operating environment has been full of challenges, but is the airline doing a good job so far? To answer that, let's take a look at the ITA Airways fleet in 2023.
A fast-growing fleet
Starting where Alitalia left off, ITA Airways began its operations on October 15th, 2021, with the following fleet of 56 aircraft:
There were two key aircraft types that didn't make the 'jump' over to ITA. These were Airbus A321-200s and Boeing 777-200ERs. Now, around a year and a half later, the ITA Airways fleet is a little larger than when it began, having taken delivery of a few more aircraft. The fleet is now made up of:
There are also CRJ1000ER, ERJ 190-100AR, and ERJ 190-100LR aircraft operated by other airlines on behalf of ITA.
Remaining on the theme of "new but actually old," the airline's first three A350s were actually built in 2018 and 2019 and weren't originally intended for the Italian carrier. Indeed, the original customers of these jets were Hainan Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, and Tianjin Airlines. These carriers, for various reasons, didn't follow through with their orders, turning the jets into white tail aircraft.
The A350 was even chosen to fly Pope Francis to Africa earlier this year. The vessel was turned to take on the role of providing the papal flight. The type has been busy all across the continents, heading far and wide, including new routes to the likes of the Maldives.
The transfer of ex-Alitalia jets to ITA Airways means that the airline has a somewhat older fleet of aircraft - ranging between 10 and 22 years. The airline's much newer A350-900s, which are between six months and three years of age, drastically bring down the overall average fleet age. Of course, with many more new Airbus aircraft on the way, the average fleet age will continue to fall. Today, the average age of the total fleet is just under 10 years.
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Flying blue (not the program)
While Skyteam's Air France and KLM have a shared loyalty program by the name of Flying Blue, ITA Airways is taking the phrase in its most literal sense, and flying blue-colored aircraft. Indeed, joining the likes of KLM and Korean Air, the carrier has decided on an all-blue livery for the standard color scheme of its fleet. This deep metallic shade of blue is a significant departure from the tri-color red-white-green of Alitalia.
Likely the key reason for this drastic change is the fact that the European Union wanted to limit the amount of "economic continuity" between Alitalia and ITA Airways. While the new airline is essentially a replacement and a revival of Alitalia, the new entity was to have a different name and very few traces of the airline it was created to replace.
Two aircraft in the fleet stand out as intentionally different.
In advance of the airline's official unveiling, one special livery placed on the Airbus A320 registered EI-EIB. This jet was one of ITA Airways' first aircraft, and, to mark the occasion of the carrier's launch, was painted all white with the words "Born in 2021" plastered across the side.
The second aircraft with a special livery is an Airbus A350 registered EI-IFD. This aircraft has a special "Born to Be Sustainable" livery that features the green, white, and red from the Italian national flag, along with a sustainability message marking the airline's commitment to becoming one of Europe's greenest airlines by 2025.
Many of ITA's other new deliveries have been named after famous sportspeople. Valentino Rossi, Marcello Lippi, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero, and Enzo Bearzot are some familiar names on the airline's A350s.
Notably, the carrier began flying the Airbus A320neo in its blue livery just last month. The aircraft provide 20% less fuel consumption and carbon emissions per seat when against previous generation units, bringing significant savings for the airline.
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ITA Airways aircraft in the news last year
While Italy's new full-service flag carrier certainly makes the news for being "the new Alitalia" with a striking blue livery, its aircraft have also been in the news for all the wrong reasons. On this topic, two relatively recent incidents come to mind.
Sleeping pilots
The first incident took place on May 1st, 2022, when an ITA Airways Airbus A330-200 was operating flight AZ609 from New York to Rome. The aircraft was cruising over France when it became unresponsive to air traffic control for over 10 minutes.
This lack of response to air traffic control sparked a terror alert with fighter jets then being scrambled to check on the status of the aircraft. However, the real reason for the lack of communication was that both pilots were asleep.
This alarming incident occurred because one pilot was on a period of "controlled rest," leaving responsibilities to the other pilot. However, this pilot too fell asleep, failing to respond to communications for 10 minutes. The unnamed pilot denied falling asleep and blamed faulty communications instead. However, an investigation found inconsistencies in the pilot's version of events, while technicians tested the aircraft's systems and found no faults. This led to the captain being dismissed from their job after the internal investigation.
Hit and fly
A second incident took place the following month on June 17th, with an ITA Airways A330 apparently clipping another jet while on the ground at New York's JFK airport.
The aircraft, registered EI-EJL, taxied towards the runway for departure but struck an Air France Boeing 777-200, registered F-GSPQ, in the process. The crew of the ITA Airways A330 was completely oblivious to the collision and proceeded to take off.
Meanwhile, the Air France jet urged ATC to keep the ITA aircraft on the ground. However, by the time the situation was fully understood by ATC, the A330 was already in the air and on its way across the Atlantic. ATC contacted the ITA Airways jet to inquire about the incident, but the crew denied any such collision. Either due to the extent of the damage or supply chain challenges, the Air France 777 spent over three weeks on the ground at JFK, finally resuming service on July 15th.
Future fleet focus
While ITA Airways has been growing its fleet quickly in recent months, the carrier has much, much more to look forward to. Indeed, ch-aviation.com data notes that the airline is still expecting the following Airbus jets to join the fleet:
- 7 x A220-100s
- 12 x A220-300s
- 1 x A319-100
- 24 x A320neos
- 9 x A321neos
- 17 x A330-900s
- 2 x A350-900s
With the carrier continuing to take new aircraft, these figures won't likely be accurate for too long. Of course, we'll examine what else the airline is expecting to operate in the coming months and years.
Announced in September 2021, the airline emphasized that the significant Airbus order was placed to make its fleet and operations more efficient and more environmentally friendly. Firming up the order in December 2021, this is what the Executive President of ITA Airways, Alfredo Altavilla, had to say:
“Today the strategic partnership with Airbus takes an important step forward with the finalization of the order we announced last September. In addition to this agreement, possibilities for further collaboration have emerged, in particular regarding technological developments in the aviation sector and digitalization, where Airbus is the market leader. All this is part of the actions to achieve our environmental sustainability objectives,"
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Stiff Competition
Still, in its first year of operations, ITA Airways comes into a market full of fierce competition. Regarding short-haul services, the carrier will be going up against both well-established legacy carriers as well as European budget airlines such as Ryanair, Wizz Air, and easyJet.
For long-haul operations, the airline will be competing with foreign airlines serving Italy. This includes fellow European carriers like Lufthansa, Air France, and Iberia connecting through their respective hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, Paris, and Madrid.
Additionally, overseas airlines in North and South America such as LATAM, Aerolineas Argentinas, and the big three US carriers, will also be the competition that the carrier needs to consider. When it comes to US carriers, United Airlines alone serves Italy, while American Airlines and Delta offer service to Italy from several US cities.
There are a lot of headwinds faced by ITA Airways, even if we exclude incidents resulting from the actions of its own pilots. However, with a growing fleet of modern, efficient aircraft and potentially new ownership on the horizon, the airline might just have a chance at being more successful than its predecessor.
The likes of Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have both expressed interest in the airline over the last year. The latter made an official bid in January, potentially shaking up the European aviation landscape.
What do you make of ITA Airways' fleet in 2023? Does the airline's holdings have what it takes to compete on the international spectrum in the long term? Let us know what you think of the aircraft and their prospects in the comment section.
Sources: aeroTELEGRAPH, FlightRadar24.com, Planespotters.net