Now ITA's farewell to the A330-200s is official. The dates and destinations of the last three flights

ITA Airways deserves credit for being true to its word. Months ago (even before the advent of the Germans), the top management of the Italian company had set by the end of this year The withdrawal of Airbus A330-200s from the fleet. which had been 'inherited' by Alitalia in October 2021 and would be replaced by A330-900s.

When, however, for a full sixteen months (from July 2024 until November 2025) no new A330-900 arrived at Fiumicino for problems related to the availability of the engines mounted on the -900s, it had been speculated that the -200 might remain in line even during the early months of 2026.

Instead, according to reports in recent hours from the specialized website aeroroutes.com, the last three regular flights operated by ITA with A330-200s will coincide with the last three days of 2025. E from January 1, 2026, ITA will fly long-haul exclusively with the latest generation of aircraft: the A330-900s and A350-900s.

Now, it should be pointed out that there is nothing wrong with the -200.. They still fly in the hundreds at so many airlines around the world, and ITA's are also relatively 'young,' having an average age of about fifteen years.

But the on-board product (not, of course, the service), although it too is structured on three classes (Business, Premium Economy and Economy) is significantly inferior to what ITA itself has mounted on its A330-900 and A350-900.

 

And the point is, in the three years that the three types of aircraft have coexisted on long-haul routes, ticket prices have of course always been the same, whether traveling on the 'old' A330-200 or the new A330-900 and A350-900.

Currently, three A330-200s are still reported to be in ITA's fleet. But two (one named for Paolo Maldini and the other for Tazio Nuvolari) have been parked at Fiumicino for over a month and will most likely never fly again, waiting to be transferred to Brazilian carrier Azul.

The third one (dedicated to Marco Pantani and also destined for a 'third life' with Azul), on the other hand, is operational and between December 19 and 24 made three rotations on Rome-Boston, two on Rome-Delhi, and one on Rome-New York JFK.

Instead, the A330-900 fleet grew to twelve aircraft, with the twelfth aircraft arriving at the end of November, ending the 'fast' of new -900s that had persisted since July 2024. And there is news from Toulouse that two more identical aircraft are undergoing flight tests and should be delivered to the Italian company in the coming days. With those arrived, three more will be needed to complete the 17-machine order ITA had placed in 2022.