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ITA Airways is to reinforce its intercontinental network with services to Delhi before the end of this year. The airline’s operation from Rome Fiumicino will bring to nine the number of intercontinental routes flown by the carrier. It will open the Delhi route on 3 December with three flights weekly. ITA says it will use Airbus A330s for the service. The airline’s latest route illustrates its ambition to develop an Asia-Pacific network, which will also feature Tokyo from November and the Maldives in December. ITA says it is continuing “relentless work” to expand its intercontinental reach, and is seeking to appeal to both business and leisure passengers. The carrier adds that it is looking to underpin feeder activity and capitalise on passenger flows from India to European and North American destinations. ITA’s intercontinental routes have previously centred on the Americas, with destinations including Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, New York, Boston, Miami, and Los Angeles. ITA will deploy A330s on the new Indian service.<br/>

Garuda Indonesia aims to have 96 aircraft operating under its main brand by the end of 2026, with modest fleet growth averaging nine aircraft annually for the next four years. Garuda reiterates that it will have 61 aircraft in service by the end of 2022, according to a lengthy Indonesian language clarification about its restructuring posted on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The carrier notes that at present it has just 30 “serviceable” aircraft that are fit for operations. Using private placement funds obtained through its restructuring, Garuda aims to boost this number to 61 aircraft by year end. This is consistent with a statement in early August that it would have 60-70 aircraft in service by the end 2022. A lack of MRO capacity is understood to be a major bottleneck for Indonesian airlines aiming to returned stored aircraft to service. The August statement marked an about face from previous comments made by Indonesia’s deputy minister for state-owned enterprises Kartika Wirjoatmodjo that the airline, which has undergone a massive restructuring, would have over 100 aircraft in service by the end of 2022. For the time being, Garuda has an arrangement with lessors that narrowbodies will be leased on a usage basis until the end of 2022, and widebodies until the end of 2023. After these terms expire new fixed rate leases will be imposed – although Garuda says the monthly lease rates will be lower than those that prevailed before the coronavirus pandemic. At the end of 2022, Garuda aims to have 13 Airbus A330s, three A330neos, eight Boeing 777-300ERs, and 37 737-800s in service. By the end-2023 it will have 66 aircraft, 80 by the end of 2024, 87 by the end of 2025, and 96 by the end of 2026.<br/>