Next week, the Brazilian startup Ita Transportes Aéreos will conduct its first flights, an airline executive told Simple Flying. While these flights won’t be commercial operations, they are a first step towards launching this new carrier in Brazil. Let’s investigate further.
What kind of flights will Ita have?
Starting on April 11, Ita Transportes Aéreos and the Civil Aviation National Authority in Brazil (ANAC) will start doing several certification flights across the country.
According to the local media outlet Contato Radar, Ita will perform 14 test flights between five Brazilian cities. The airline will use its only aircraft, an Airbus A320 registration PS-SPJ.
The operation of these 14 flights was later confirmed to Simple Flying by Alex da Paula, Network Planning and Strategy Manager at Ita Transportes Aéreos.
Ita will fly to Sao Paulo (Guarulhos International Airport), Confins, Rio de Janeiro (Galeao International Airport), Salvador, and Porto Alegre.
The schedule
The newest Brazil startup will perform all these flights between April 11 and 15. This is the schedule for the next few days:
April 11.
- Flight IPM9000, between Sao Jose dos Campos and Guarulhos
April 12.
- Flight IPM 9002: Between Guarulhos and Confins
- Flight IPM 9003: Between Confins and Guarulhos
- Flight IPM 9004: Between Guarulhos and Galeao
- Flight IPM 9005: Between Galeao and Guarulhos
April 13.
- Flight IPM 9006: Between Guarulhos and Salvador
- Flight IPM 9007: Between Salvador and Guarulhos
April 14.
- Flight IPM 9008: Between Guarulhos and Porto Alegre
- Flight IPM 9009: Between Porto Alegre and Guarulhos
April 15.
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- Flight IPM 9010: Between Guarulhos and Galeao
- Flight IPM 9011: Between Galeao and Guarulhos
- Flight IPM 9012: Between Guarulhos and Confins
- Flight IPM 9013: Between Confins and Guarulhos
- Flight IPM 9014: Between Guarulhos and Sao Jose dos Campos
What else do we know about Ita
Ita Transportes Aéreos has had a steady but slow road in the last few months. The airline plans to launch during 2021’s first semester, although it has had a few setbacks. For instance, it currently only has one Airbus A320, although it plans to start with a fleet of ten aircraft.
The airplane arrived in Brazil on February 20, and almost one month later, ITA showed it with its new yellow livery. Originally, Ita planned to start flying in March and even put a countdown on its website announcing this. Obviously, that date has passed already, and Ita remains grounded.
So far, the airline has not updated on the routes and frequencies it will operate. But we know the first commercial flight, whenever it happens, will be between Vitória and Guarulhos. Additionally, Ita has already selected 17 domestic destinations across Brazil, and the plan is to operate nearly 3,000 flights per month.
Social media activity
Nevertheless, the airline is moving forward. It has been pretty active on social media in the last few months.
Earlier today, it posted a video of the painting job on PS-SPJ, done in Sao Jose dos Campos. It recently also published some images stating why it chose to use the Airbus A320 as its launching fleet.
According to the airline, the A320 has a range of 6,200 kilometers; this allows to fly between Sao Paulo and Brasilia three times in a row without a refuel.
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Worldwide, the Airbus A320 has gathered more than 270 million flight hours, or approximately 6,000 days flying non-stop.
We can’t wait to see Ita Transportes Aéreos in the sky. It has a long road ahead before becoming a solid competitor against Brazil’s big three (Azul, LATAM, and GOL). Nevertheless, there’s enough room for one more player in this country, despite the current uncertainty.
What do you think about Ita Transportes Aereo’s plans? Let us know in the comments.