Be careful ITA's A330s are only the same in price (and livery): the "Magnificent" consistency of ITA Airways

With the last six new Airbus A330-900s also delaying arrival due to an engine 'shortage' (so for the past two weeks neo are stopped in Toulouse despite being ready for delivery), ITA Airways, which tomorrow at the TTG Rimini will present its operational and possible new destinations for Summer 2026 at a press conference, will be forced to keep in service a little longer the A330-200s it had 'inherited' from Alitalia and were to be retired by the end of 2025.

In fact, the table presented on the investor day by the Lufthansa Group indicates that the 330-200 is scheduled to be retired in 2026, but without specifying in which quarter of the year.

Mind you, these five aircraft are far from old, as their average age is about 14 years, which is not much for wide-body aircraft dedicated to long-range operations.

But if you compare their in-flight product with that of the A330-900, the comparison is unequal. And not only because the interiors of the eleven A330-900s (which have an average age of just over two years) are newer.

However, the ticket price in the three cabins of Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class is the same whether you fly on a -200 or a -900. And therefore, in choosing one flight over another, it is worth checking first what type of aircraft you will be flying on.

In this final part of Summer 2025, A330-200s are essentially flying from Rome Fiumicino to three destinations: Boston (where they operate daily), New York JFK, and Delhi, where they operate a few weekly frequencies instead.

On JFK, in particular, ITA is making as many as three daily rotations with a mix of A350-900, A330-900 and A330-200. Of the three frequencies, the one on which the 330-200 also operates is on flights AZ602 and AZ603: the former is scheduled from Fiumicino at 9:35 a.m. arriving in NY at 1:15 p.m., while the latter leaves JFK at 5:40 p.m. to land in Rome at 8:15 a.m.

In the days ahead, The A330-200 is scheduled to operate flight AZ602 between FCO and JFK on Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12. On the same days, two A330-900s will operate flights AZ608 and AZ610, departing from FCO at 10:30 a.m. and 3:10 p.m. You can recognize it by clicking on 'Itinerary Details because it is listed simply as 'Airbus A330.

And looking at the booking page on ITA's website, a one-way ticket in Economy costs 660.12 euros on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 and 628.12 euros whether you fly A330-200 or A330-900; in Premium Economy you spend 2.006.12 euros on Friday and Saturday while PE is sold-out on Sunday; and in Business Class the one-way ticket always costs 4,637.62 euros on Sunday, while on Friday and Saturday (evidently due to a question of seat availability) one spends even more flying with the A330-200 than with the A330-900.

The difference between the products mounted on the -200 and -900, in terms of personal space, privacy, and amenities is particularly evident in Premium Economy and Business Class.

Therefore an extra eye on the plane you will be flying in will allow you to fly more comfortably while spending the same (when not less, as in the cases cited above).

Moreover, the policy followed by ITA is the one followed by all companies that have different machines with non-homogeneous on-board products on the same route. And it is more 'fair' than that adopted by Lufthansa, which generally charges more for the Business 'Allegris' than it does on the vast majority of its long-haul aircraft.

Recalling that Even Qatar Airways, the best airline in the world, in case of a car change following which you find yourself traveling in your 'normal' business class instead of the QSuite you had booked, is careful not to reimburse the unfortunate passengers a portion of the ticket price, because the principle (as with ITA) is that you pay for the cabin and not the seat or suite.