ITA Airways presented the major new features of its winter program 2023-2024who will propose 52 destinationsincluding 17 domestic, 23 international and 12 intercontinental.
Two new intercontinental destinations, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Malè (Maldives), will be added to the network of the Italian airline which already serves New York, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and New Delhi.
From October 29, 2023, the route from Rome-Fiumicino to Rio de Janeiro will be operated by Airbus A330, with a daily frequency. From December 16, 2023, that from Rome-Fiumicino to Malè will be operated by Airbus A330, with 3 to 5 weekly rotations depending on the period.
Reinforced Airbus fleet
During 2023, ITA Airways strengthened its fleet which now includes 79 Airbus aircraft, 29 of which are of the latest generation including eleven A320neos, seven A220-300s, five A330-900s and six A350-900s. The first Airbus A321neo is expected to join its fleet by the end of this year. It is the first narrow-body aircraft with a three-class configuration: Business (12 seats), Premium Economy (12 seats) and Economy (141 seats including 12 dedicated to Comfort Economy). The first Airbus A220-100 will also join ITA Airways by the end of 2023 to strengthen the regional network.
Summer program 2024
At the start of the 2024 summer season, ITA Airways will serve two other new intercontinental destinations, Chicago (United States) and Toronto (Canada). From April 7, 2024, the Rome-Fiumicino connection to Chicago will be inaugurated, with 6 weekly flights which will become daily in June. From May 1, 2024, that from Rome-Fiumicino to Toronto will be launched, with 6 weekly frequencies which will become daily from June.
Also over the next year, ITA will add to its network Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) in May, Accra (Ghana) and Kuwait City (Kuwait) in June, Dakar (Senegal) in July and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in October.
“From January 2023 to date, we have carried 11 million passengers, 55 percent more than the same period in 2022, with an average load factor of 80 percent, or 7.5 percentage points more per year. compared to the same period in 2022, with an increase in turnover of 83% compared to the first 9 months of last year“, indicated Emiliana Limosani, commercial director of ITA Airways.
“We now look to the future with confidence, with an emphasis on intercontinental development. Our next step will be the opening of the non-stop Rome-Fiumicino – Rio de Janeiro line. South America, where we already operate in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, is a market in which we are leaders in terms of traffic to and from Italy thanks to one of the largest Italian communities in the world. From December, we will return to the Maldives, a highly coveted destination for leisure traffic“, she added.
