Swiss to wet-lease E195-E2 capacity

ITA Airways takes first A220-100

ITA Airways (AZ, Rome Fiumicino) has taken delivery of its first A220-100, deploying it into commercial service on the restricted and high-yielding Milan Linate-London City route almost immediately.

EI-HLA (msn 50068) was ferried directly from Montréal Mirabel to Rome Fiumicino on October 31-November 1, 2023. Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows it was then repositioned to Linate on November 2 and operated its first revenue flight to London City on November 3. So far, the aircraft has only been used on this route. It is configured for up to 125 passengers in a single-class layout.

ITA Airways has six more A220-100s on direct order from Airbus. The airline is only the third operator of the variant globally, following Swiss and Delta Air Lines. It also operates seven A220-300s on lease from Air Lease Corporation with plans to add a further nine of the type from the same lessor. The -300 is not certified to operate at London City airport.

Prior to EI-HLA's delivery, ITA Airways...

Brussels Airlines takes delivery of first A320neo

Brussels Airlines (SN, Brussels National) took delivery of its first A320-200neo, OO-SBA (msn 11600), on November 1 after the first-ever new-build aircraft for the Belgian carrier was flown from Toulouse Blagnac to Brussels National. It is the first of five A320neo to join its fleet as part of a Lufthansa Group order.

Brussels Airlines becomes Lufthansa Group's latest A320neo operator following Lufthansa, Lufthansa CityLine, Eurowings, Swiss, and Austrian Airlines. Equipped with 180 seats, OO-SBA has not yet entered scheduled service according to Flightradar24 ADS-B data with Brussels Airlines saying in a press release that it would "carry out a few remaining upgrades on the aircraft in the coming weeks, after which the first commercial flight will take place." Replacing the smaller A319-100s in its fleet, the carrier expects all five A320neo to be delivered by the end of 2024.

Having recently returned two wet-leased CRJ1000s to CityJet (WX, Dublin International), the Belgian carrier currently has an all Airbus fleet with sixteen...

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