Italy’s national airline, ITA Airways, has been nicely refreshing its fleet, as the airline has dozens of new aircraft on order. The airline has just taken delivery of its first Airbus A321neo, and the onboard product is a very pleasant surprise.
ITA Airways has nine Airbus A321neos on order
ITA Airways has nine Airbus A321neos on order, and the first such aircraft has just joined ITA Airways’ fleet. The plane has the registration code EI-HXA, and flew on November 10, 2023, from Hamburg to Rome for its delivery flight. The aircraft is being leased from Air Lease Corporation, hence the Irish registration code (based on the “EI” prefix).
A321neos feature great fuel economy and range, and are used by airlines in all kinds of markets. They can efficiently be used for short haul flights, and can also efficiently be used for longer flights.
A vast majority of European airlines have just used A321neos to improve economics on short haul flights, by lowering unit costs. British Airways, Lufthansa, etc., have been using these aircraft on the same routes where they use other Airbus A320-family aircraft.
However, ITA Airways has different plans for its Airbus A321neos, as the airline intends to use these planes for medium haul routes in premium markets, with a particular focus on the Middle East. For what it’s worth, these planes don’t have the range to fly across the Atlantic from Rome (FCO).
ITA A321neos are in a three cabin configuration
ITA Airways’ Airbus A321neos are in a special configuration, very different than the A321neos operated by any other European airline. They have just 165 seats, spread across three cabins, as follows:
- Business class consists of 12 seats in a 1-1 configuration, spread across six rows; these are reverse herringbone seats with 17.3″ personal entertainment screens, and the first row even has significantly more space, and might just be the world’s most impressive narrow body business class seat
- Premium economy consists of 12 seats in a 2-2 configuration, spread across three rows, with 15.6″ personal entertainment screens; these are the same premium economy seats that ITA has on long haul flights
- Economy consists of 141 seats in a 3-3 configuration, spread across 24 rows (with the last row only having seats on one side), with 13.3″ personal entertainment screens; there are also 12 economy seats with extra legroom
This might just be the snazziest narrow body jet we’ve seen from any airline, in terms of both business class and premium economy. The airline offers a lovely experience on its Airbus A350-900s and Airbus A330-900neos, so it’s nice to see this now extending to the Airbus A321neo.
Planned ITA Airways A321neo routes
As mentioned above, the A321neo doesn’t have the range to efficiently fly across the Atlantic from Rome, so the focus is on largely offering service to the Middle East. In 2024, ITA Airways is planning a big expansion, and intends to start flying to Accra (ACC), Dakar (DSS), Jeddah (JED), Kuwait (KWI), Riyadh (RUH), and Tel Aviv (TLV), and the intent is for most of these routes to be operated by A321neos.
In December 2023, it looks like the A321neo will operate select frequencies to London (LHR), presumably for crew familiarization. Then the plan is for the plane to start flying to Tel Aviv as of January 2024, though I have to imagine that is likely to change.
Bottom line
ITA Airways has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321neo. The airline should be taking delivery of nine of these jets in the near future, and they’ll be used primarily to operate flights between Rome and the Middle East.
ITA’s Airbus A321neo interiors are ridiculously impressive. This includes reverse herringbone seats in business class (including a first row with even more space), plus a proper premium economy product.
What do you make of ITA’s Airbus A321neos?
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