ITA crosses the 100-plane milestone. All names of blue champions on fuselages (including 13 new entries) [updated 2025].
One hundred airplanes is a milestone to celebrate, for a company born not even three years ago from the ashes of Alitalia. ITA [...]
![ITA crosses the 100-plane milestone. All names of blue champions on fuselages (including 13 new entries) [update 2025]](https://www.theflightclub.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ita-a320-facchetti-900x675.jpeg)
ITA Airways
SkyTeam
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Italy
One hundred airplanes is an achievement to celebrate, for a company that was born not even three years ago from the ashes of Alitalia. ITA Airways reached him last July 12., when the 11th A330-900 has arrived in Rome Fiumicino after the classic ferry flight from Toulouse. To be nitpicky, 100 is the number of aircraft in the fleet, but 99 are the operational ones, since an Airbus A320 has been grounded in Naples for some time now.
In this article:
The number of new generation aircraft has long since surpassed that of Alitalia's legacy aircraft and today the ratio is, respectively, of 57 a 43. Among the first are. 16 Airbus A220, 18 A320neo, 6 A321neo, 11 A330-900 and 6 A350-900. Instead, they are still a 'legacy' of Alitalia. 11 A319, 25 A320ceo and 7 A330-200.
In the case of ITA, the finish line of the 100 airplanes in the fleet also translates into 90 names, so many are those of the champions and champions of Italian sports who had the honor of having one of the flag carrier's jets named after them.
The difference between fleet aircraft and 'christened' aircraft is due to the fact that. some aircraft have special liveries 'Born to sustainable', 'Born in 2021' and 'I am Friuli Venezia Giulia' and some, among the older ones, never had a name associated with it.
The most recent 'dedications' are those at the fencer Giovanna Trillini, to the skier Kristian Ghedina, to the volleyball player Andrea Giani, to basketball players Andrea Bargnani e Pierluigi Marzorati, to the coach of the national volleyball team Ferdinand De Giorgi, to the skater (on ice) Enrico Fabris, to soccer players Christian Vieri, Salvatore Schillaci e Vincenzo Montella, to Olympic gold in the 100m In Rome 1960 Livio Berruti, to the coach of Milan and the national soccer team. Arrigo Sacchi and to the tennis player Paolo Canè.
Here, broken down by type of airplane, the 90 Italian sportsmen and women named on ITA Airways' planes:
Airbus A220-100: Fiona May (athletics), Giuseppe Meazza (soccer), Gianlugi Buffon (soccer), Giovanna Trillini (fencing), Kristian Ghedina (skiing), Andrea Giani (volleyball), Andrea Bargnani (basketball).
Airbus A220-300: Giacomo Agostini (motorcycling), Alessandro Campagna (kickboxing), Alessandro Mazzola (soccer), Davide Astori (soccer), Alessandra Sensini (windsurfing), Giorgio Lamberti (swimming), Giorgio Chiellini (soccer).
Airbus A319-100: Gino Bartali (cycling), Massimo Biasion (motor racing), Marco Simoncelli (motorcycling), Pietro Mennea (athletics), Adriano Panatta (tennis), Michele Scarponi (cycling), Alberto Ascari (motor racing), Michele Alboreto (motor racing), Novella Calligaris (swimming).
Airbus A320-200: Sandro Munari (motor racing), Giuseppe Saronni (cycling), Francesca Schiavone (tennis), Gigi Riva (soccer), felice Gimondi (cycling), Eleonora Lo Bianco (volleyball), Gaetano Scirea (soccer), Giuseppe and Carmine Abbagnale (rowing), Paolo Rossi (soccer), Tania Cagnotto (swimming), Nicola Pietrangeli (tennis), Carlo Pedersoli (swimming), Andrea Lucchetta (volleyball), Fausto Coppi (cycling), Deborah Compagnoni (skiing), Flavia Pennetta (tennis), Federica Pellegrini (swimming), Gianni Bugno 8cycling), Gustav Thoeni (skiing), Dino Meneghin (basketball), Sara Simeoni (athletics).
Airbus A320neo: Carolina Kostner (skating), Roberta Vinci (tennis), Carlton Myers (basketball), Antonello Riva (basketball), Armin Zoeggeler (luge), Franco Baresi (soccer), Manuela Di Centa (skiing), Gianluca Basile (basketball), Alberto Tomba (skiing), Enrico Fabris (skating), Ciro Ferrara (soccer), Pierluigi Marzorati (basketball), Ferdinando De Giorgi (volleyball), Giacinto Facchetti (soccer), Francesco Moser (cycling), Klaus Dibiasi (swimming), Domenico Fioravanti (swimming), Enzo Maiorca (diving).
Airbus A321neo: Massimiliano Rosolino (swimming), Edoardo Mangiarotti (fencing), Elisa Di Francisca (fencing), Luigi Datome (basketball), Christian Vieri (soccer), Salvatore Schillaci (soccer).
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Airbus A330-200: Paolo Maldini (soccer), Marco Pantani (cycling), Francesca Piccinini (volleyball), Juri Chechi (athletics), Francesco Totti (soccer), Tazio Nuvolari (motor racing).
Airbus A330-900: Gelindo Bordin (athletics), marco Tardelli (soccer), Lorenzo Bernardi (volleyball). Gianmarco Pozzecco (basketball), Luca Pancalli (swimming), Vincenzo Montella (soccer), Antonio Cairoli (motorcycling), Livio Berruti (athletics), Stefano Baldini (athletics), Arrigo Sacchi (soccer), Paolo Canè (tennis).
Airbus A350-900: Valentino Rossi (motorcycling), Marcello Lippi (soccer), Roberto Baggio (soccer), Alessandro Del Piero (soccer), Enzo Bearzot (soccer).
As of today, January 16, 2025, 9 more aircraft named after Italian sportsmen were added. Specifically, the latest Airbus A320neo to enter the fleet (delivered on Aug. 1, 2024) was dedicated to Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi, a motorcycling icon; an A321neo, on the other hand, bears the name of fencer Roberto Marson. Other blue sportsmen whose names have been written in ITA Airways planes (in A220s, to be precise) are: Sara Anzanello (volleyball), Fabio Cannavaro (soccer), Dario Hubner (soccer), Andrea Bargnani (basketball), Angelo di Livio (soccer), Andrea Giani (volleyball), and Kristian Ghedina (skiing).
