In 2023, ITA Airways will enter service with a large number of brand-new aircraft.
ITA Airways wants to increase the size of its fleet to 96 aircraft by the end of 2023, thus it intends to buy 39 new narrow-body and wide-body passenger planes.
Airbus A321neo single-aisle aircraft will constitute the majority of the airline’s narrow-body fleet, according to a statement from ITA seen by Reuters on November 11, 2022. By the end of the next year, ITA will increase its wide-body operations by at least nine Airbus A330-900s.
The state-owned airline explained that it has underwritten “all the commitments for increasing the fleet in 2023,” meaning that older planes will be withdrawn from service.
“The upgrade will mean a 73% increase in the ASK [available seat kilometer – ed. note] metric,” ITA wrote.
The new Italian airline now has a fleet of 66 aircraft and plans to gradually increase it to 105 aircraft by the end of 2025, comprising 82 narrow-body jets and 23 wide-bodies, with the assumption that at least 75% of the fleet will be newer models.
ITA will employ the new aircraft, which are scheduled to begin service with the carrier in 2023, to expand its network. The airline intends to establish new routes from its base at Rome-Fiumicino International Airport (FCO) to at least five locations, including San Francisco (SFO), Washington (DC), Riyadh (RUH), Kuwait City (KWI), and Jeddah (JED) (IAD).
