Two Airbus A330-200s 'disappear' from ITA Airways' fleet. For whom they will fly in their third life
Two Airbus A330-200s have 'disappeared' from ITA Airways' fleet. The aircraft, dedicated to Juri Chechi and Francesco Totti, [...]
ITA Airways
FCO
Italy
Two Airbus A330-200s have 'disappeared' from ITA Airways' fleet.
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The aircraft, dedicated to Juri Chechi and Francesco Totti, had joined the fleet of Italy's largest airline in October 2021 and were both ex-Alitalia set up in three classes of service, with 20 seats in Business Class, 17 in Premium Economy and 219 in Economy.
For several days they had been parked one in Amman in Jordan and one in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, but in recent hours they have been officially 'defalcated' from the fleet. While the fate of the 'Francesco Totti' has yet to be determined, the 'Juri Chechi' will live a third life (after those spent first in Alitalia and then with ITA Airways) in the colors of Brazilian carrier Azul, which will reconfigure it into two classes with 20 seats in Business Class and 236 in Economy (Azul does not have Premium Economy on its wide-body aircraft).
A similar carioca future awaits the other three A330-200s that still formally remain in ITA's fleet. In particular, the 'Paolo Maldini' and 'Tazio Nuvolari' are reported to be parked at Fiumicino, one since November 7 and the other since November 16, and it is therefore almost certain that they will not return to the skies in ITA's Blue Savoia livery. The 'Marco Pantani,' on the other hand, is reportedly still 'active,' according to the specialized website planespotters.net.
And active it certainly was during the last week of November, during which it flew every day: on November 26, 27 and 28 it made as many rotations between Rome and New York JFK, at the turn of the 29th and 30th, and on December 30 and 1 it operated two rotations on the Rome-Delhi route and then, again on December 1, took off again for New York.
The story of the A330-200s, which mount an outdated in-flight product, is familiar to readers of The Flight Club: before ITA's transition to the Lufthansa Group, they were definitely scheduled to be retired by the end of 2025 to unify the long-haul product on that of the A330-900 and A350-900.
However, deliveries of the A330-900s (of which the Italian company had ordered seventeen examples in 2022 with deliveries to be completed by the end of this year) have come to an extended halt due to the unavailability of the Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines they mount.
For a full 16 months, between July 2024 and the end of November 2025, no -900s arrived in Rome. And Ita, jointly with the Lufthansa Group, advanced the hypothesis that A330-200s should remain in the fleet beyond the end of 2025, if only as 'relief aircraft,' 'spare' planes to be brought on line if one of the A330-900s or A350-900s was unavailable for technical reasons or maintenance.
Friday, November 28, From Toulouse, the 12th 330-900 arrived in Rome., which on the evening of that same day was put into service on the Rome-Rio De Janeiro, confirming the carrier's 'hunger for planes'. At present, one of the twelve -900s is parked for maintenance. Two others are ready in Toulouse, waiting for engines to arrive but the date of their delivery has not yet been set.
As a result of the 'departure' of the two A330-200s, ITA's fleet currently numbers 101 aircraft: 6 Airbus A350-900s, 12 A330-900s, 3 A330-200s, 7 A321neo, 19 A320neo, 17 A320ceo, 10 A319ceo, 15 A220-300s and 12 A220-100s.
