FLEET - Italy's ITA Airways to fast-track four widebodies by 2027

ITA Airways (AZ, Rome Fiumicino) is working on a new, more ambitious fleet plan to fast-track the entry into service of four additional widebodies by 2027, CEO Jörg Eberhart said in an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica.

Responding to union criticisms of ITA's current growth plan to add one long-haul aircraft per year for the next four years, Eberhart said management was finalising a new plan that would see two widebodies added in 2026 and two more in 2027, accelerating long-haul growth and targeting a fleet of 30 long-haul aircraft by 2030. He did not specify the aircraft types to be fast-tracked.

According to ch-aviation fleets data, ITA Airways awaits delivery of three more A330-900Ns and two A350-900s, which would take its widebody fleet to 30 aircraft. It already operates a widebody fleet of 25, namely five A330-200s, fourteen A330-900Ns, and six A350-900s.

Eberhart emphasised that long-haul operations from Rome Fiumicino will remain the backbone of ITA’s strategy. ITA is currently evaluating potential new transatlantic routes, including Rome-New York Newark, subject to regulatory approval of its A++ alliance with United Airlines, Air Canada, and Lufthansa. "We're waiting for a response from the authorities, confident they're working on it. We're confident they'll give us the green light by November 2026," he said.

Quizzed on ITA's appetite for long-haul expansion to Asia, he said: "The war in Ukraine and the Russian blockade of the skies are making Asia more distant: it's a coveted destination, but expensive and complicated. We'll fly more to Latin America and North America."

Eberhart confirmed that the carrier continues to face disruptions from Pratt & Whitney engine inspections, which, he said, had resulted in an average grounding of 18, with 15 still parked in 2026, and with damages estimated at EUR150 million euros (USD176 million).

The airline's narrowbody fleet comprises twelve A220-100s, eighteen A220-300s (with two more ordered), ten A319-100s, seventeen A320-200s, nineteen A320-200Ns (11 more to be delivered), and seven A321-200NX(LR)s (two more to be delivered).
CH Aviation / Photo: Duncan Stewart