The Brazilian startup Ita Transportes Aéreos expects to receive its first aircraft on January 8, 2021. Three Airbus A320ceo are currently parked in different Spanish cities, ready to travel to Brazil and start the fleet of Ita Transportes Aéreos.
How will Ita create its fleet?
In August, we reported that Ita Transportes Aéreos plans to launch on March 2021, using a fleet of ten Airbus A320. The Brazilian start-up is one of at least five airlines that may start flying in Latin America in 2021.
The new carrier plans to use the city of Vitória as its central hub, according to Tiago Senna, Ita’s CEO. From there, it will create a domestic route map.
According to the Brazilian news site Aeroin, Ita’s maintenance team is currently working in Spain, preparing the Airbus A320s to be delivered in the first days of 2021.
Ita already has the registrations for its first ten aircraft. These are:
- PS-SFC, previously operated by Sky Angkor
- PS-COR, previously operated by Turkish
- PS-KOM, previously operated by Silk Air
- PS-SPJ, previously operated by Vueling
- PS-ROV, previously operated by Silk Air
- PS-JCP, previously operated by Tigerair
- PS-AAF, previously operated by IndiGo
- PS-ITA, previously operated by Turkish
- PS-JCL, previously operated by IndiGo
- PS-TCS, previously operated by IndiGo.
According to registrations by FlightRadar24.com, PS-SFC, PS-SPJ, and PS-ITA are in Spain. They still hold their previous registrations, which are OE-IKJ, EC-LQK, and TC-JUG, respectively. Any of these could be the first aircraft to fly to Brazil in the next few days.
But Ita’s plans are more ambitious. The airline expects to have 50 aircraft. To do that, the airline will receive one aircraft per month during the next five years, according to Senna.
The configuration of the fleet
Currently, we also have information on how Ita Transportes Aéreos will configure its fleet. According to Thiago Senna, each A320ceo will have 168 seats. It will have nine rows with a seat pitch of 34 inches and 19 rows with a 31 inches seat pitch.
This configuration will be similar to the offers of LATAM and Azul on alike aircraft. LATAM’s A320 fleet has 168 seats, while Azul’s has 174 seats. There won’t be an in-flight entertainment system. Instead, passengers may stream using their cellphones and tablets.
Ita has a tough road ahead, trying to enter a market so dominated by three airlines. Azul, GOL, and LATAM Brazil currently hold more than 95% of the domestic market share in the country. These three carriers have successfully filled the gap left by Avianca Brazil.
In this regard, Ita Transportes Aéreos must have a unique proposal.
Understanding more of Ita’s business plan
If we make a rough comparison, Ita Transportes Aéreos’ biggest rival would be Azul Linhas Aereas. That is because Ita plans to operate in a similar way to Azul, although maintaining a proper hub in Vitória. It will develop a feeder system.
This feeder system will work by bringing passengers from smaller cities, either by using smaller airplanes or buses. Ita Linhas Aereas is the latest bet from Itapemirim, the largest bus company in South America.
To serve this feeder system, Thiago Senna expects to acquire smaller aircraft than the A320, but those won’t be turboprops. So, we’re thinking about Embraer’s offer.
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Like Azul, Ita plans to serve smaller, underserved cities across Brazil. There is a market big enough for both carriers since Brazil is the country with the largest number of airports worldwide, many of which lack connectivity.
Finally, Ita plans to serve other South American countries in the long term. It will do it with its current A320 fleet, so don’t expect any widebody order from the start up. In that sense, it would be similar to GOL, an airline with a single type fleet (Boeing 737) operating across South America.
Are you eager to hear more about Ita Transportes Aéreos? Let us know in the comments.