AIRLINE REVIEW
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The first A320neo arrived in Rome in February 2023 and , as of the end of June , six were operational . As many as 11 more are expected to join the fleet before this year ’ s end . The larger A321s will come after the summer season , the first one being due in November . They are the most intriguing of ITA ’ s new types in terms of cabin layout : as many as three classes of service will be available onboard , including Business — with lie-flat seats — Premium Economy , and Economy . Presicce said : “ Our aim is to offer our passengers the same level of choice and comfort they enjoy on our new wide-body aircraft .”
The A321s will not fly long-haul services , however . “ We needed a machine that could easily work on routes between three and six hours ,” Presicce said . “ That ’ s why we preferred the A321NX to the longer-range , much more expensive -LR , which can fly up to nine hours .”
For obvious reasons ( including the entry of the carrier into the
Lufthansa Group ), Presicce could not anticipate where the A321neos will fly in the colors of ITA Airways . However , considering the aircraft ’ s range and its high-standard cabin layout , the Middle East is a very good candidate .
This year ’ s summer season is seeing a major effort aimed at introducing the A330-900 into revenue service . “ With the A330ceos and the A350s already in the fleet , the A330neo was the natural choice for us , mainly due to the commonality of the types , which enables an eight-day crew transition from the A350 to the neo and an outstanding half-day transition from the ceo to the neo . That translates into a total flexibility in point of cockpit crew management ,” the CTO said .
Delivery of as many as four aircraft is expected by the beginning of August . After the inaugural service ( of both the type and destination ) to Washington ( DUL ) on June 2 , the type was spotted in Miami , New York ( JFK ), Delhi , and Sao
Paulo ( GRU ). “ Its amazing performance is perfect for our network , as it can fly without payload restrictions to all our long-haul network destinations except Buenos Aires , where only the A350 can operate fully loaded ,” Presicce said .
The neos are the first long-haul aircraft fully customized according to ITA ’ s decor and layout specifications : the interiors are configured into three separate cabins , with 30 lie-flat seats in a 1 + 2 + 1 cross-section in Business Class , 24 in Premium Economy — featuring a 40-inch seat pitch and a 2 + 3 + 2 crosssection — and 237 in Economy in the classic Airbus 2 + 4 + 2 layout . The first five rows of the latter cabin , dubbed Economy Comfort , offer three inches more legroom , for a 34-inch seat pitch .
The A350s are flying in a two-class configuration . “ When we got them from Airbus in the spring of 2022 , we customized them as much as we could in point of cabin decor ,” Presicce said . “ However , the seats had already been
42 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2023 www . airwaysmag . com