ITA Airways (AZ, Rome Fiumicino) is considering adding new long-haul routes as it plans to achieve profitability in 2027, chief executive officer Joerg Eberhart said in the interview with the Corriere della Sera daily. The airline is evaluating five new long-haul routes, mainly to North America.
ITA is also keen on starting new services to Asia, but is facing difficulties due to the closure of the Russian airspace. "If we were to fly over the country [Russia] again, there would be some interesting destinations in Asia," Eberhart said.
ITA Airways plans to grow its long-haul network mainly from its hub in Rome Fiumicino as it believes that starting widebody operations in Milan Malpensa is currently not viable. Eberhart explained that ITA Airways needs to offer a robust feeder network out of Milan Malpensa if it wants to compete in the long-haul market in this city. "This is not feasible for a carrier like ours that only has a hundred or so planes," he added.
The CEO noted that the airline is also seeking better fleet utilisation, especially for narrowbody jets that were hit with engine issues. Eberhart said ITA Airways must strengthen two out of three daily flight waves at Rome Fiumicino by offering more long-haul connections. However, the carrier would need additional widebody aircraft if it wanted to grow in this market segment significantly.
"With more flights to the East or South Africa, we would also have more strength in the second and third wave... With more solid waves, the flight feeder network, the so-called 'feeding', also works much better. There is greater productivity."
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, ITA Airways currently operates 100 in-house aircraft, including twelve A220-100s, twelve A220-300s, ten A319-100s, eighteen A320-200s, nineteen A320-200Ns, seven A321-200NX(LR)s, five A330-200s, eleven A330-900Ns, and six A350-900s.
The company is also expecting deliveries of 26 jets - four A220-300s, twelve A320-200Ns, two A321-200NX(LR)s, six A330-900Ns, and two A350-900.
