Ita will fly with Airbus (Boeing excluded)
Ita consolidates its fleet around the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The new Italian carrier announces a mix of new orders and leased aircraft
Ita has chosen Airbus as a “strategic partner for the fleet”.
The new airline built on the ashes of Alitalia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the French group for the purchase of 28 aircraft, specifically: 10 Airbus A330neo, 7 aircraft of the Airbus A220 family and 11 of the A320neo family, for the latter " deliveries will begin after the completion of the Business Plan ”, announced the newco chaired by Alfredo Altavilla in a note.
According to press leaks, the cost of the 28 aircraft is around 1.5 billion.
The newco has also signed an agreement with the company Air Lease Corporation for the leasing supply of another 31 new generation Airbus aircraft, including long, medium and short range aircraft. C.
Overall, Ita will acquire over the plan period “56 Airbus aircraft under leasing at significantly more advantageous conditions than those reserved for Alitalia”, underlines the company.
However, the status of the purchase of 28 aircraft as a Memorandum of Understanding means that it is not certain that all orders will materialize, especially if the new carrier runs into financial problems like its predecessor, Bloomberg points out.
Meanwhile, Ita is preparing for its launch on October 15, when Alitalia will officially cease to operate.
Today at the Ministry of Labor the table between trade unions and the company is held for the Alitalia dispute.
THE NEW ITA FLEET
The new airline will start with 52 Airbus aircraft inherited from Alitalia SpA, with the first of the additional jets arriving from the end of the first quarter of 2022. Of those ordered from Airbus, 17 will arrive within an initial plan activity that will end in 2025, with the A320neo planned later.
The aircraft purchased will include 10 wide-body A330neo, 11 of the best-selling narrow-body A320neo family and seven smaller A220s for regional routes, the company said.
The leased aircraft will begin arriving in the second half of 2022, with deliveries until early 2025, Air Lease said in a separate statement.
AIRCRAFT IN 2025
By the end of 2025, 70 percent of the aircraft in an Ita fleet that is expected to consist of 105 units will be next-generation jets, the company said, with about one-third fully owned.
SAVINGS WITH A SINGLE SUPPLIER
For Ita, "settling on a single aircraft manufacturer will save money in areas such as pilot costs" noted Bloomberg.
GOODBYE BOEING
Therefore, Boeing was definitively excluded from the fleet of the new Italian national airline. Change of route with respect to Alitalia. The latter has been a major operator of Boeing for much of its history, with some 777s still in its final fleet.
VICTORY FOR AIRBUS
“Ita carried out an accurate assessment of the aircraft and chose Airbus for all segments of its fleet. This is very gratifying and is a testament to the great value of the Airbus product range […]. Thank you very much! ”, These are the words of Christian Scherer, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International.
The deal marks another win for Airbus, which had a recent ordering success after following rival Boeing as demand for the U.S. firm's 737 Max rebounds, Bloomberg also notes.
Furthermore, Ita has also agreed with Airbus to become a strategic partner for new technologies and for the future generation of sustainable aircraft.
THE PRESIDENCY OF ALITALIA EMPLOYEES CONTINUES
Finally, the protests of Alitalia workers in Rome continue.
A garrison of Alitalia workers is scheduled for today, 1 October, in Piazza della Repubblica in Rome, on the occasion of the meeting of the trade unions with the Minister of Labor Andrea Orlando. Alitalia employees demonstrate to ask for social safety nets for workers excluded from the 2,800 hired by Ita, the application of the National Labor Contract, the guarantee of full employment for all.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/ita-volera-con-airbus-boeing-esclusa/ on Fri, 01 Oct 2021 09:46:57 +0000.