ITA Airways confirmed on 29 December 2025 that it will operate its final Airbus A330-200 service on New Year’s Eve—flight AZ 615 from Boston to Rome—drawing a close to the type inherited from Alitalia. Industry outlets Airways Magazine and AirData News note that the aircraft operated final Delhi and New-York rotations earlier this week before its swansong across the Atlantic.
The move leaves ITA’s long-haul fleet composed entirely of next-generation Airbus A330-900neos and A350-900s equipped with upgraded business-class suites, Wi-Fi and lower fuel burn. For corporate travellers the immediate benefit is a harmonised cabin product and improved schedule reliability, as the older A330-200s accounted for a disproportionate share of technical delays.
![ITA Airways Retires Last Airbus A330-200, Completing Long-Haul Fleet Modernisation]()
A quick reminder for anyone booking seats on the refreshed fleet: securing the right travel documents is just as important as choosing the right cabin. VisaHQ’s online platform can expedite Italian visas and other Schengen paperwork for both leisure and corporate flyers, integrating neatly with travel calendars and policy workflows—visit https://www.visahq.com/italy/ to see how the service can simplify compliance before your next Rome-bound departure.
From a mobility-programmes perspective, the retirement means seat maps and preferred-seat logic in online-booking tools need updating. Travel buyers should renegotiate soft-dollar targets tied to premium-cabin availability, and may find that negotiated fares for 2026 factor in improved fuel efficiency. Cargo managers, however, should note that belly-hold capacity on some routes will shrink by up to 10 % until additional A330-900 deliveries arrive mid-2026.
The fleet simplification also dovetails with Lufthansa Group’s integration roadmap after acquiring a minority stake this year. Codeshare connectivity via Frankfurt and Munich is expected to deepen further, potentially altering connection patterns for travellers originating in Italy’s business hubs. HR teams coordinating long-haul assignments should refresh preferred-carrier communications and remind travellers to download updated entertainment apps before boarding.
The move leaves ITA’s long-haul fleet composed entirely of next-generation Airbus A330-900neos and A350-900s equipped with upgraded business-class suites, Wi-Fi and lower fuel burn. For corporate travellers the immediate benefit is a harmonised cabin product and improved schedule reliability, as the older A330-200s accounted for a disproportionate share of technical delays.
A quick reminder for anyone booking seats on the refreshed fleet: securing the right travel documents is just as important as choosing the right cabin. VisaHQ’s online platform can expedite Italian visas and other Schengen paperwork for both leisure and corporate flyers, integrating neatly with travel calendars and policy workflows—visit https://www.visahq.com/italy/ to see how the service can simplify compliance before your next Rome-bound departure.
From a mobility-programmes perspective, the retirement means seat maps and preferred-seat logic in online-booking tools need updating. Travel buyers should renegotiate soft-dollar targets tied to premium-cabin availability, and may find that negotiated fares for 2026 factor in improved fuel efficiency. Cargo managers, however, should note that belly-hold capacity on some routes will shrink by up to 10 % until additional A330-900 deliveries arrive mid-2026.
The fleet simplification also dovetails with Lufthansa Group’s integration roadmap after acquiring a minority stake this year. Codeshare connectivity via Frankfurt and Munich is expected to deepen further, potentially altering connection patterns for travellers originating in Italy’s business hubs. HR teams coordinating long-haul assignments should refresh preferred-carrier communications and remind travellers to download updated entertainment apps before boarding.
