Neos to Become Italy’s First Boeing 787 Operator, in 2018

Italian carrier Neos will become an operator of the Boeing 787, having agreed to lease two Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners from International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC).

Based at Milan Malpensa Airport in northern Italy, Neos will become Italy’s first Boeing 787 operator when it takes delivery of the two leased 787-8s from ILFC in 2018.

On May 13, 2014, Boeing, leasing company ILFC and Italian airline Neos announced that Neos would become a new operator of the Boeing 787 with the leases of two 787-8s from ILFC in 2018

Neos currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of six Boeing 737-800 single-aisle jets and two Boeing 767-300ER widebodies. The airline will use the two leased Boeing 787-8s to expand its route network.

ILFC is Boeing’s largest 787 customer, with orders for 74 787-family aircraft. The Neos lease transaction is not an incremental 787 order for Boeing, ILFC having placed orders long ago for the aircraft it will be leasing to Neos.

“With the 787s, we will continue to deliver our passengers the best travel experience in the industry – just as we have been doing since 2002 with the delivery of our first new Boeing 737-800,” says Carlo Stradiotti, chief executive officer of Neos SpA.

“This deal is possible because of the excellent work performed by our colleagues in the last 12 years of operations and because Neos is a part of the Alpitour Group, the most important and best integrated tourism group in the country,” adds Stradiotti.

Composite materials make up 50 per cent of the primary structure of every Boeing 787, including its fuselage and wing.

Italy plays a key role in the production of the Boeing 787, with Boeing supplier Alenia Aermacchi’s factories in Grottaglie (Taranto), Foggia and Pomigliano (Naples) producing the central fuselage and horizontal stabilizer for the Dreamliner.

Founded in 2001, Neos caters to Italy’s leisure market. It predominantly operates services from Milan, but also flies from other major Italian cities, to destinations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.