Hamburg ribbon cutting and flight to Fiumicino: first A321neo delivered to ITA
ITA Airways' aircraft fleet continues to grow, this A321 is the new medium-haul flagship
ITA Airways
SkyTeam
It was Delivered the first of nine Airbus A321neo aircraft to ITA Airways ordered by the Italian company from the European manufacturer. At the end of a ceremony held at the Airbus factory in Hamburg, the plane dedicated to former Olympic champion swimmer at Sydney 2000, Massimiliano Rosolino, made the transfer flight to ITA's base in Rome Fiumicino.
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Two more are expected at the turn of 2023 to early 2024, with the remaining six entering the fleet over the next year. The 'Massimiliano Rosolino' is scheduled to enter service on December 4, between Rome Fiumicino and London Heathrow. The British capital, just a few days ago, had been the 'recipient' of another new model operated by ITA: The A220-100 , which has been flying three times a day between Milan Linate and London City airport since October 3..
The plane, in the company's plans, was to make its debut with passengers on board on Dec. 1 on the Rome-Tel Aviv route, which in terms of flight duration (about three hours) and type of clientele, was the most suitable, among those in the network, for the new aircraft. But the continuation of the war between Israel and Palestine and the resulting uncertainty regarding what services the airlines will be able to provide next month, prompted a rethink.
The 321neo is a very unusual airplane because of the internal configuration adopted by the Italian airline. In fact, it is not an -LR (the longer-haul model of the 321neo), which is capable of flying up to nine hours nonstop. ITA's mole has a maximum range of six to seven hours. However, its interiors are comparable to those of long-haul aircraft operated by the carrier: include, in fact, A business class with a 2+2 layout for 12 lie-flat seats, which can be transformed into perfectly horizontal beds, a 12-seat Premium Economy as well and a 141-seat Economy.
Overall, then, the seats on board will be 165, on an aircraft type that normally carries more than 200. ITA is also the only airline in the world, along with Scandinavia's SAS, to have an A321neo carrying three different classes of service. While waiting (and hoping) for the situation in Israel to improve and the conflict to end, it is quite likely that the first A321neo will be used by ITA to serve major European routes from Rome.
As of spring 2024, on the other hand, will find their bread and butter (in terms of flight range) on the New routes announced a couple of weeks ago by the company: Riyadh (from May), Accra and Kuwait City (from June), Dakar (from July) and Jeddah (from October). The A321neo, in the 'premium' configuration adopted by ITA is expected to be successful particularly on routes to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, 'flown' by business and leisure customers with a good propensity to spend on travel.
With the arrival of the 'Maximilian Rosolino, ITA Airways' fleet has grown to 81 aircraft: 6 A350-900, 5 A330-900, 7 A330-200, 1 A321neo, 13 A320neo, 25 A320-200, 16 A319-100, 7 A220-300, 1 A220-100.
