ITA, the new national airline of Italy, has agreed to take on 31 new aircraft, consisting of 15 A220s, two A320neos, nine A321neos and five A330-900neos, on long-term lease from Air Lease Corporation’s (ALC) orderbook with Airbus. Deliveries of the 31 aircraft will begin in the second half of 2022 and continue through to early 2025.
ITA (Italia Trasporto Aereo) is the new state-owned flag carrier of Italy, scheduled to commence operations on 15 October 2021. The airline is fully owned by the Government of Italy via the Ministry of Economy and Finance and will take over many of the assets of the outgoing Italian flag carrier, Alitalia, which suffered several failures, resulting in the Italian government ultimately taking ownership.
In addition to these 31 Airbus aircraft from ALC, ITA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for the purchase of 28 new aircraft: 10 A330neo aircraft for long-haul flights, seven A220 family regional jets, and 11 A320neo family aircraft (deliveries for the latter to start after the completion of the business plan). Overall, ITA will lease a total of 56 new Airbus aircraft over the course of the plan (13 long-haul jets, including the A350-900, and 43 short and medium-haul aircraft).
Alfredo Altavilla, executive chairman of ITA stated, “The strategic partnership with Airbus and ALC is crucial for ITA to jumpstart our business plan, aiming at achieving our targets of a new environmentally friendly fleet with significantly lower operating and leasing costs. I want to thank both Christian Scherer, CCO of Airbus, and Steven F. Udvar-Házy, executive chairman of Air Lease Corporation, for their trust in the future of our brand-new airline.”
“ITA has done a thorough clean-sheet aircraft evaluation and has chosen Airbus across all segments,” said Scherer. “We are proud and grateful to be alongside ITA in building its future together. Grazie Mille!”
