ITA Airways Takes Delivery of Its First A220-100

DALLAS — ITA Airways (AZ) has taken delivery of its first A220-100 aircraft and put it into service on the Milan-Linate-London City route.

The aircraft, with registration EI-HLA and manufacturer serial number 50068, was flown from Montréal-Mirabel International Airport (YMX) to Rome-Fiumicino International Airport (FCO), AZ's hub, on October 31–November 1, 2023.

The Airbus aircraft was repositioned at Milan Linate Airport (LIN) on November 2 and operated its first revenue flight to London City Airport (LCY) on November 3.

ITA Airways has ordered an additional six A220-100 aircraft directly from Airbus. AZ is only the third airline globally to operate this aircraft variant, following Swiss (LX) and Delta Air Lines (DL).

ITA Airways A220 Fleet

The airline also leases seven A220-300 aircraft from Air Lease Corporation and plans to add nine more of the same type from the same lessor. AZ celebrated the arrival of the first All-Blue Airbus A220-300 aircraft the last week of August after taking delivery of the first unit in December 2022.

The prior four airframes that progressively joined the AZ's operations were painted in the "Born to be Sustainable" special colors—the aircraft had a completely white fuselage and tail, with only the basic ITA titles and the corresponding slogan displayed. According to ch-aviation.com, the A220-300 is not yet certified to operate at LCY.

Before receiving the A220-100, AZ wet-leased an E190 aircraft from Eastern Airways (T3) to operate the LCY route. AZ operates the A220-100, which can accommodate up to 125 passengers in a single-class configuration, exclusively on the up-to-three-times-daily LIN-LCY route.

We'll update this article with photos of AZ's new A220-100, EI-HLA, this week, so stay tuned to our social media channels.

Featured image: Airbus A220-300 EI-HHK ITA Airways LIRF. Photo: Fabrizio Spicuglia/Airways

https://airwaysmag.com/ita-first-blue-airbus-a220/