Chaos in Middle East, ITA postpones intercontinental debut of its A321neo jewel by a month
With two weeks to go before the inaugural flight, ITA Airways has decided to postpone the start of connections to Riyadh, the first destination [...]
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Two weeks before the maiden flight, ITA Airways has decided to postpone the start of connections to Riyadh, the first medium- to long-range destination for the jewel of the blue fleet, the Airbus A321neo.
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The twin-engine aircraft with three classes of service Was supposed to take off from Fiumicino airport for the capital of Saudi Arabia on May 5., initially operating 4 weekly flights that would become 5 starting June 5. Instead, the first connection between the two cities is now scheduled for June 2, as of now with 5 weekly flights operated from Rome on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday and from Riyadh on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Operational remains unchanged with AZ838 taking off from Fiumicino at 3:25 p.m. and arriving in Riyadh at 9:25 p.m.; in the opposite direction, AZ839 will leave Riyadh at 1:45 a.m. to land in the Italian capital at 6:35 a.m.
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The Italian company also postponed its debut on Kuwait City., which had been scheduled for June 7 With 3 weekly connections. Now, however, the first Rome-Kuwait is scheduled for July 1, with 4 weekly flights that will become 5 starting July 8. AZ846 will leave Fiumicino every Monday, Thursday, Friday Saturday and Sunday at 3:55 p.m. landing in Kuwait at 10:00 p.m.: from there AZ847 will depart every Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:40 a.m. with an expected arrival in Rome at 7:20 a.m.
ITA explained the decision To move the startup of the two links forward. with the condition of political-military instability that is gripping that area of the Middle East, after the escalation of contrasts between Israel and Iran, which led, just a few days ago, to the sudden closure of airspace in several countries in the region.
The absolute debut of the A321neo had also been affected by the ongoing instability in the Middle East: initially scheduled to take place over Tel Aviv in early December, the aircraft's 'christening' had instead taken place on the Rome-London Heathrow route, due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, ITA has been back on the route since last August 31. e From June, the A321neo is scheduled to operate one of two daily flights between Rome and Tel Aviv.
As for, however, the intercontinental routes operated by the aircraft, if there are no further date shifts, Rome-Riyadh remains the route on which the neo will make its debut, given that the inaugural link with Accra in Ghana, operated with the same type of aircraft, is scheduled for June 6. Two more routes will be added during the summer to the 321's schedule: Dakar in Senegal on July 3 and the other Saudi metropolis, Jeddah, starting August 1.