ITA to open South America routes with new Airbus A350-900

ITA Airways confirmed on Twitter it is opening routes to South America from June. The airline has also acquired its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which it will deploy to the continent.

ITA Airways will launch flights to South America in June, deploying its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft to the continent. Sharing a video on social media of the aircraft getting its new paint job, ITA confirmed the routes will open in early summer. The Italian flag carrier also started services to the US recently.

💙 BREAKING NEWS 💙
Vi presentiamo l’ @Airbus #A350 appena uscito dal painting hangar😍 La prima ammiraglia della nostra flotta non poteva che essere dedicata ad un grande condottiero azzurro, #MarcelloLippi 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/pm9Gyariwu

— ITA Airways Risponde (@ITAAirways) March 25, 2022

Ciao Brazil and Argentina

According to the ITA website, routes from Rome–Fiumicino International Airport to Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo will be available from June. However, tickets are not yet on sale. The website also states “Referring to specific extra UE destinations (Argentina, Brazil), ITA Airways is finalising the certification process required to start ticket sales as soon as possible.” 

ITA’s predecessor, Alitalia, previously connected those destinations with Italy. The airline will initially fly to Buenos Aires five times a week, starting June 2nd, and then increase the frequency to daily from August 1st. Similarly, its service to Sao Paulo will begin on June 1st and eventually increase to once daily from August 1st.

For these flights, ITA will use the long-range A350-900 aeroplanes. The first of the planes is now in the new signature Savoy blue livery. It was named in honour of Italian footballer and head coach Marcello Lippi.

American flights

On 1st March, the airline inaugurated the Rome Fiumicino to Miami flight in addition to its existing New York JFK and Boston flights. Two more US routes to launch shortly are Milan Malpensa-JFK (starting on April 2nd) and Rome-Los Angeles (June 1st).

ITA has on order several aeroplanes including 11 Airbus A220s to serve the shorter European routes. The airline has temporarily wet leased two German Airways Embraer E190 jets for routes to London City, Luxembourg, and Geneva.

More changes ahead

The airline recently rolled out an advanced ticketing model. It enables companies and frequent flyers to easily schedule travel without worrying about surge pricing or other issues.

ITA is also up for sale, with both Lufthansa and shipping company MSC interested in buying the airline from the Italian government.