AeroItalia (XZ, Rome Fiumicino) has signed a contract with Air Lease Corporation for three new B737-8s with deliveries due in 2023 and 2024.
"We consider this deal a very important step for AeroItalia in its plan for sustainable green growth and to support the Italian market," Chief Executive Gaetano Intrieri said.
The young carrier currently operates three B737-800s, with a fourth undergoing pre-delivery maintenance at Toulouse Blagnac and plans to add two more. The aircraft are used predominantly for charter and ACMI flights. It is also wet-leasing an ATR72-600 from Romania's AirConnect (KS, Bucharest Baneasa) to operate scheduled flights out of Forli and soon out of Milan Bergamo.
While AeroItalia planned to focus on scheduled operations out of Forli initially, it has since pivoted to a more ACMI/charter focus. Intrieri told ch-aviation that the MAX 8s would be deployed on both scheduled and charter routes, but as a rule, on sectors longer than three block hours.
The three B737-8s will come from ALC's existing order book. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that the lessor has an order for 62 units of the type on top of the 46 it has already taken.
