By Joseph M. Calisi © 2022 All Rights Reserved
With the turnover from Alitalia to Ita Airway and the conversion and reduction of that fleet to an all-Airbus lineup, Ita Airways finds itself with an equipment shortfall. German Airways is ‘wet leasing’ a pair of Embraer E190 jets to Ita Airways. As part of the big change, Ita Airways scuttled Alitalia’s Boeing and Embraer aircraft in favor of newer A220 planes from Airbus.
Leasing an aircraft is an alternative to purchasing an aircraft – a very expensive proposition but stands at 40% of the current market for a certain period of time. When the lease ends, it reverts back to the owner.
Beginning March 28th, Ita will use these planes with direct new route flights into Europe (Geneva, Luxemburg, and London City) from Milan, Linate that will compete with established carriers. These 15-year-old planes have 12 business class and 88 in Economy class seats and remain in German Airways livery.
The arrival of the A220 is unknown and the E190s will be operating with a sticker stating ‘Operated by Ita Airways’ thru the summer.