B/C/J Independent
ITA Airways Business Class on the A350-900 — A 2026 Review

Airlines

ITA Airways Business Class on the A350-900 — A 2026 Review

I flew ITA Airways Business Class on the A350-900 four times between November 2025 and April 2026: AZ610 FCO-JFK in seat 2A on EI-IFA on November 20, 2025; AZ609 JFK-FCO in seat 4K on EI-IFC on November 28, 2025; AZ638 FCO-ORD in seat 3A on EI-IFB on February 14, 2026; and AZ790 FCO-NRT in seat 6K on EI-IFD on April 8, 2026. All four were paid revenue Business Class tickets. The April Tokyo rotation was the most expensive sector — booked four weeks in advance at EUR 5,890 one-way — and was the rotation that most directly tested the catering proposition on a 12-hour eastbound. No press trip, no affiliate, no upgrade.

The premise of this review is that ITA Airways is in the middle of the most consequential ownership and alliance transition of any major European carrier in 2026: the Lufthansa Group has just increased its stake from 41 percent to 90 percent, ITA has just exited SkyTeam and joined Star Alliance, and the cabin programme is about to shift from inherited Hainan-spec hardware to Lufthansa Group platform derivative on forward A350-900 deliveries. The strategic question is whether ITA can maintain its Italian brand identity through this transition or whether it becomes structurally indistinguishable from Lufthansa over time.

Quick Answer

ITA Airways Business Class on the A350-900 is a 33-seat Collins Aerospace Super Diamond cabin in a 1-2-1 reverse-herringbone layout, with direct aisle access for every seat, no closing privacy door, a 21-inch shoulder width, a 78-inch bed length, and an 18-inch 4K IFE screen. The cabin was inherited from a Hainan Airlines order that was not taken up — the A350-900 airframes were acquired by ITA from the Airbus inventory in 2022 with the Hainan-spec cabin already installed, which is why the Super Diamond was the seat platform. The soft product is genuinely strong and is frequently cited as the best transatlantic catering of any European carrier — anchored in a rotating partnership with Italian regional chefs (current rotation 2026 features Roman chef Cristina Bowerman of the one-Michelin-star Glass Hostaria), with a wine list exclusively Italian curated by Sandro Sangiorgi, Pratesi bedding, and a leather amenity kit from Roman luxury house Trussardi. The hard product is generation-behind and will be replaced on forward deliveries with a derivative of the Lufthansa Group cabin platform (Allegris/Senses architecture) under the ITA brand identity from 2027. The Star Alliance integration in May 2026 has restructured the loyalty and lounge access landscape and is the most immediate operational change for ITA passengers.

Cabin specification: Collins Super Diamond on the A350-900

The ITA Airways A350-900 fleet entered service in June 2022 with the first delivery EI-IFA (msn 308), which was originally built in 2019 for Hainan Airlines but not taken up by that operator. The airframe spent more than two years in storage at Shannon before being ferried to Rome Fiumicino in May 2022 and entering ITA revenue service on June 1, 2022. The original tranche of three A350-900s (EI-IFA, EI-IFB, EI-IFC) all carry the Hainan-spec cabin. The 2024-2025 deliveries (EI-IFD, EI-IFE, EI-IFF, EI-IFG) were built to ITA’s order but were specified with the same Collins Super Diamond seat to maintain operational consistency across the fleet — the seven A350-900s are functionally identical from the passenger perspective.

The Collins Super Diamond is a 2014-vintage Collins Aerospace platform (originally B/E Aerospace before the Collins acquisition in 2017). The seat is laid out in a 1-2-1 reverse-herringbone configuration with 33 seats across nine rows (rows 1-2 in a forward mini-cabin, rows 4-9 in the main Business cabin). The seat is angled at 25 degrees from the cabin centreline, with the window seats (A and L) angled toward the aisle and the centre pairs (D and G) angled toward each other. The shoulder width is 21 inches; the bed length is 78 inches; the pitch is 60 inches. The seat does not include a closing privacy door — the shell is fixed at approximately chest height when seated.

The cabin shell finish is a cream and grey palette that reflects the inherited Hainan specification rather than a deliberate ITA design choice. The 18-inch 4K IFE display is a Panasonic eX3 platform — the same as Lufthansa Allegris and Iberia A350-900 — with the ITA customised interface that runs a catalogue of approximately 1,400 films and 3,200 TV episodes. The IFE has been progressively upgraded since 2022 and is now competitive with the leading European Business Class IFE platforms.

The seat console has approximately 12 litres of enclosed storage, a wireless charging pad rated at 15 watts (a meaningful upgrade over the Iberia 7.5W pad), two USB-C ports rated at 60 watts, two USB-A ports, and a universal AC outlet. The seat controls are a 5-inch touch panel beside the right arm with four physical preset buttons. The lighting controls are limited compared to the newer Lufthansa Allegris cabin — Super Diamond offers four lighting zones rather than the ten zones on Allegris.

The seat-to-bed transition is automated — pressing the bed-mode preset transitions the seat into a fully flat sleeping surface in approximately 90 seconds, with the cabin crew providing the mattress topper, Pratesi linen, and pillow as the transition completes. On AZ790 FCO-NRT in April 2026 the cabin crew made up the bed approximately 45 minutes after takeoff and I slept for approximately 6 hours on the eastbound — adequate but not exceptional for a 12-hour sector.

Cabin walkthrough

I flew seat 2A on AZ610 FCO-JFK in November 2025 — a forward mini-cabin window seat with the seat oriented toward the aisle (the reverse-herringbone window seat positions the seat with the seated passenger facing the centreline, which means the window is over the right shoulder when seated). The shell height at the shoulder is approximately 43 inches, which provides reasonable privacy when seated but does not approximate the suite-like enclosure of a closing-door cabin. The seat width at the shoulder is 21 inches; the seat extends to a 78-inch flat bed.

The console between the seat and the window has the storage and ports detailed above. The seat surface is leather (a cream colour), which has aged better than I had expected — the EI-IFA cabin in November 2025 was approaching three and a half years of service and showed only minor wear on the highest-touch surfaces. The cabin maintenance discipline appears to be strong.

The 18-inch IFE display is mounted on the forward shell of the seat in front at a viewing distance of approximately 28 inches. The IFE platform was upgraded in mid-2024 from the original Hainan-spec Thales i5000 to the Panasonic eX3, and the upgrade was a meaningful improvement — the response time is faster, the catalogue is broader, the search function works. Bluetooth 5.0 audio pairing is supported natively without a dongle.

The amenity kit on AZ610 was the Trussardi-branded leather pouch — a Roman luxury house partnership that ITA has operated since the carrier’s 2021 launch — containing eye mask, slippers, dental kit, and a small selection of Acqua di Parma toiletries. The Trussardi kit is genuinely the strongest amenity kit in transatlantic Business Class in 2026 alongside the Loewe kit on Iberia and the Bally kit on SWISS Senses. The amenity kit colourway rotates quarterly — November 2025 was a navy with cognac trim; February 2026 was a burgundy with cream interior; April 2026 (on AZ790) was a forest green with black trim.

Catering and wine: the strongest transatlantic Business proposition

The ITA catering programme is the single strongest soft product feature of the Business Class cabin and is the dimension on which ITA materially outperforms its European competitors in 2026. The programme is anchored in a rotating partnership with Italian regional chefs — the current rotation (May 2026 - October 2026) features Cristina Bowerman of Glass Hostaria in Rome, who developed a menu emphasising Roman classical cuisine (cacio e pepe, saltimbocca alla romana, abbacchio scottadito) reinterpreted for cabin-altitude service. The previous rotation featured Antonia Klugmann of L’Argine a Vencò in Friuli (October 2025 - April 2026), which is the rotation I sampled on the November 2025 and February 2026 sectors.

On AZ610 in November 2025 my Business meal was a Klugmann-developed agnolotti al plin in a Friulano broth with hand-grated Montasio, followed by a beef tagliata with rosemary potatoes and a Sicilian sfogliatella for dessert. The meal was, frankly, the best Business Class catering I have eaten on any European transatlantic carrier in 2025-2026. The pasta course was at the level I would expect from a one-Michelin-star kitchen at ground level, and the texture had been preserved through the rethermalisation process — which is genuinely difficult for pasta and which most European catering programmes get wrong.

The wine list is curated by Italian sommelier Sandro Sangiorgi (founder of the Italian wine magazine Porthos) and is exclusively Italian — no French champagne pour, no New World wine, no concession to international taste. The list rotates seasonally and the spring 2026 rotation included a Soave Classico from Pieropan, a Barolo Cannubi 2018 from Vietti, a Brunello di Montalcino 2017 from Soldera Case Basse, and a Franciacorta Brut Riserva from Ca’ del Bosco. The Pieropan Soave is the kind of producer that even sommelier-level wine enthusiasts will respect; the Soldera Case Basse Brunello is, on a transatlantic Business Class wine list, a genuinely exceptional pour. I had two glasses of the Soldera on the FCO-JFK westbound and the cabin manager paused to discuss the producer with me — the kind of soft product interaction that distinguishes ITA from the more reserved European service vocabularies.

The Pratesi bedding is shared with the Lufthansa Group cabins, Iberia, and a number of other European Business Class platforms. The pillow is firm; the linen is genuine Pratesi Italian cotton; the lightweight quilt is the standard Pratesi-branded Business item. ITA also provides a turn-down service that includes a mattress topper meaningfully thicker than the Iberia or KLM equivalent — this is a small but real comfort difference.

Crew vocabulary

The ITA crew service style is distinctly Italian and is the second-strongest soft product feature of the cabin after catering. The cabin crew on AZ610 opened the boarding in Italian followed by English, and the meal service was delivered with a relaxed conversational style that included the cabin manager pausing at my seat to discuss the wine pairing and the antipasti course. The service style is closer to a restaurant in a small Italian city than to a corporate airline cabin — which is, depending on your preference, either delightful or excessive.

The crew language proficiency is variable. On AZ610 the cabin crew were comfortable in Italian, English, and Spanish; on AZ790 to Tokyo the crew were comfortable in Italian, English, and Japanese; on AZ638 to Chicago one cabin crew member’s English was limited and the service became slower as a result. This is a real operational variability that ITA has worked to address since the carrier’s launch in 2021 but which has not been fully resolved.

Routes and schedule

The ITA Airways A350-900 deployments as of the summer 2026 schedule:

RouteFlightAircraftFrequency
FCO-JFKAZ608 / AZ610A350-9002x daily
FCO-EWRAZ614A350-900Daily (from June 2026)
FCO-MIAAZ630A350-900Daily
FCO-LAXAZ620A350-900Winter-only
FCO-ORDAZ638A350-9005x weekly (from Nov 2025)
FCO-EZEAZ680A350-900Daily
FCO-GIGAZ670A350-9005x weekly
FCO-NRTAZ790A350-900Daily
FCO-HNDAZ792A350-9004x weekly (from Oct 2026)
FCO-JNBAZ842A330-900 / A350-900 selectiveDaily

The AZ610 schedule departs Rome at 15:10 local and arrives JFK at 18:55 local, a 9h 45m daylight westbound sector — the second JFK rotation of the day after AZ608. The AZ609 return departs JFK at 22:05 local and arrives FCO at 12:45 local +1, an 8h 40m eastbound red-eye.

The FCO-HND launch in October 2026 is the most strategically significant network development for ITA in 2026 — the rotation will operate four times weekly initially on the Tokyo Haneda slot pair acquired in the 2025 IATA slot exchange with JAL (under the SkyTeam-to-Star-Alliance transition framework), and is expected to build to daily by summer 2027. The FCO-NRT rotation (AZ790) will continue as the second Tokyo frequency.

SkyTeam to Star Alliance: the alliance transition

ITA Airways formally exited SkyTeam on April 30, 2026, and joined Star Alliance on May 1, 2026 — the most significant alliance transition by a major European carrier since Etihad’s exit from oneworld in 2010 (Etihad has not joined an alliance since). The transition has restructured the lounge access, codeshare, and loyalty earning landscape for ITA passengers.

For Business Class passengers the practical implications are: ITA Business Class passengers now have access to the Star Alliance Gold lounge network at non-Italian airports (the Lufthansa Senator Lounge at FRA and MUC, the United Polaris and Star Alliance Gold lounges in the US, the SWISS Senator Lounge at ZRH, the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold Lounge at SIN, etc.); Volare elite status now matches Star Alliance status (Volare Executive matches Star Alliance Gold; Volare Premium does not match Star Alliance Silver because Star Alliance has only Gold and Silver tiers); and Miles & More partnership with Volare allows 1:1 point conversion under the Lufthansa Group integration framework.

The loyalty implications are most consequential for the corporate booking channel. Volare Executive is now a reciprocal Star Alliance Gold status — which means ITA frequent flyers have priority check-in, lounge access, and baggage priority across the entire Star Alliance network. Conversely, Star Alliance Gold passengers from any member carrier now have lounge access at the Premier Lounge at FCO T1 (previously restricted to ITA Business and Volare Executive only). This is a meaningful expansion of the FCO lounge access footprint.

The codeshare integration with Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, and the broader Star Alliance network is being phased in through Q3-Q4 2026 — the booking platforms are being integrated and the seamless transit through Frankfurt or Munich for Lufthansa Group connections is being prioritised. The FCO-FRA shuttle frequency (AZ388, AZ390, AZ392, AZ394, four daily rotations) is now coded as the principal feeder for transatlantic Lufthansa Group connections from Italian secondary cities.

Lounges and ground product

The Premier Lounge at Rome Fiumicino Terminal 1 is ITA Airways’ flagship Business Class lounge and is genuinely competitive with the Sala Velázquez at Madrid for the European hub Business Class lounge ranking. The lounge is 1,000 square metres on the airside at FCO T1, opens at 04:30 local, and offers a la carte dining at the Piazza Italia restaurant (included in Business access), a Negroni bar, and a sleep room with daybeds. The lounge was renovated in 2024 with a more contemporary design language and added the Negroni bar concept — a deliberate Italian-luxury cabin-airline differentiator that has been well-received.

The Casa Italia lounge at FCO T3 is the alternative smaller lounge for Premium Economy and Volare Silver — functional but not premium. The Premier Lounge is the better option for any Business Class or Volare Executive passenger.

At JFK the AZ608 and AZ610 westbound rotations use Terminal 1 (the SkyTeam terminal, retained through the alliance transition because no Star Alliance terminal at JFK currently has capacity for ITA’s rotation pattern) with access to the Air France-KLM Lounge — adequate but not exceptional. The terminal change to a Star Alliance facility is expected for summer 2027 contingent on slot availability. At Newark EWR the AZ614 westbound uses Terminal B with access to the United Polaris Lounge — a meaningful upgrade over the JFK arrangement.

At Tokyo the AZ790 westbound at Narita uses Terminal 2 with access to the ANA Lounge — a strong execution by 2026 standards. At Haneda the AZ792 westbound (from October 2026) will use Terminal 3 with access to the ANA Lounge T3, which is the strongest Star Alliance lounge in Asia.

How ITA compares to its competitive set

Against Iberia Business on the A350-900, ITA is broadly equivalent on hard product (both are 2018-vintage no-closing-door reverse-herringbone-equivalent platforms — Iberia uses Solstys II, ITA uses Super Diamond), structurally ahead on catering (the Klugmann/Bowerman menu rotation is meaningfully better than the Iberia Azurmendi rotation), broadly equivalent on amenity (Trussardi versus Loewe — both excellent), and ahead on lounge experience for Star Alliance Gold passengers connecting through FCO since May 2026.

Against Air France Business on the A350-1000 (the Stelia Symphony seat with closing door), ITA is structurally inferior on hard product, ahead on catering, broadly equivalent on wine (Air France leans into French producers, ITA into Italian), and slightly behind on crew language consistency.

Against Lufthansa Allegris Business on the A350-900, ITA is structurally inferior on hard product (no closing door, no throne or Suite Plus sub-types), ahead on catering, broadly equivalent on amenity, and broadly equivalent on Pratesi bedding (the two share the same Pratesi partnership). The most important strategic fact about the comparison is that ITA is moving into the Lufthansa Group cabin programme from 2027 — the new A350-900 deliveries will close the hard product gap.

Against SWISS Senses Business on the A350-900, ITA is structurally inferior on hard product (Senses has the partial closing door and the five sub-type structure including Throne and Extra Space), ahead on catering, broadly equivalent on amenity, and slightly behind on the lounge ground experience.

Against KLM World Business Class on the 787-9, ITA is broadly equivalent on hard product (both are 2018-vintage no-closing-door reverse-herringbone platforms), ahead on catering, and slightly behind on the Schiphol hub transit experience.

Where ITA falls short

The absence of a closing privacy door is the single largest structural weakness of the ITA Business proposition in 2026 — the same limitation as Iberia and KLM, and one that the Lufthansa Group cabin platform retrofit will only address on forward A350-900 deliveries from 2027 onward.

The cabin colour palette is a conservative cream and grey inherited from the Hainan specification rather than a deliberate ITA design choice. The carrier has not refreshed the palette since taking delivery and the current finish reflects the original Hainan order more than the ITA brand identity. This is an aesthetic point but it matters at the EUR 4,000-5,000 round-trip pricing point.

The crew language proficiency is variable. On the secondary long-haul routes (Chicago, Buenos Aires, Tokyo) the cabin crew language capability is sometimes limited beyond Italian and English, and this slows down service for passengers who are not comfortable in either language.

The Volare loyalty programme is genuinely complicated since the Star Alliance integration in May 2026 and the Miles & More partnership. The earning rates, the redemption rates, and the elite tier matches have all been restructured and the booking-side documentation has not fully caught up. This is a meaningful friction point for the corporate booking channel.

The FCO Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 transit for connections to non-Schengen Star Alliance partners is awkward — the terminal layout was optimised for the SkyTeam configuration and the post-alliance-transition transit experience is suboptimal.

Verdict

ITA Airways Business Class on the A350-900 is the strongest soft product proposition in European transatlantic Business Class in 2026, anchored in the best catering programme of any European carrier and a crew vocabulary that brings genuine Italian regional hospitality to the cabin. The hard product is the constraint — the Collins Super Diamond is a 2018-vintage no-closing-door seat inherited from a Hainan Airlines order, and the absence of a closing door places ITA structurally behind Air France, BA, Lufthansa Allegris, and the new Delta One Suite.

The Lufthansa Group ownership transition and the Star Alliance alliance shift are the two most important strategic developments for ITA in 2026. The Lufthansa Group cabin platform retrofit on forward A350-900 deliveries from 2027 will close the hard product gap; the Star Alliance integration has restructured the loyalty and lounge access landscape in ways that benefit the ITA corporate frequent flyer; and the brand identity protection commitment from the Lufthansa Group means ITA will not be reduced to a Lufthansa sub-brand.

For the Rome-based traveller, or the New York or Miami traveller for whom the daylight westbound rotation and the Italian connection beyond Rome matter, ITA is the right choice on the route. For the traveller who values closing-door Business Class above all else, Air France via CDG or Lufthansa Allegris via FRA or MUC is the harder-edge choice. For the traveller who values the catering and the soft product, ITA is, in my repeated measurement across four sectors, the strongest European transatlantic Business Class soft product available in 2026.

Related on the journal. Delta One Suite on the A350-900: A 2026 Review After Eight Sectors · Vietnam Airlines Business Class on the A350-900 — A 2026 Review · Air India Business Class on the A350-900 — A 2026 Reassessment · China Airlines Business Class on the A350-900 — A 2026 Review

Frequently Asked Questions

What seat platform does ITA Airways use in Business Class on the A350-900?

ITA Airways operates the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat in a 1-2-1 reverse-herringbone configuration across 33 Business Class seats on the A350-900. The Super Diamond is a 2014-vintage Collins Aerospace platform (originally B/E Aerospace before the Collins acquisition in 2017) that does not include a closing privacy door — the suite shell is a fixed reverse-herringbone shell with the seat oriented at a 25-degree angle from the cabin centreline. The Super Diamond is the same physical seat deployed on American Airlines’ older 777-300ER fleet, Cathay Pacific’s older Business Class fleet (now being retrofitted to the Aria Suite), China Airlines’ A350-900, and Air Canada’s 787-9 Signature Class. ITA inherited the cabin specification from Hainan Airlines — the A350-900 frames were originally ordered by Hainan but the order was not taken up, and ITA acquired the airframes from the Airbus inventory in 2022 with the Hainan-spec cabin already installed.

How will the Lufthansa Group acquisition affect ITA’s Business Class product?

Lufthansa Group acquired an initial 41 percent stake in ITA Airways in January 2025 (closing after the European Commission approval in November 2024) and exercised the option to increase the stake to 90 percent in May 2026. The remaining 10 percent is held by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance under a long-term holding structure. The product implications for ITA Business Class are significant but slow-moving: the existing 7-aircraft A350-900 fleet retains the inherited Collins Super Diamond cabin through at least 2028; the next-generation A350-900 deliveries (10 additional airframes ordered by Lufthansa Group in May 2026 and expected to be delivered into ITA from 2027) will carry a derivative of the Lufthansa Group cabin platform (Allegris/Senses architecture) under the ITA brand identity, not the Allegris or Senses naming. The CEO of ITA confirmed to aerotime.aero in March 2026 that the brand identity will be protected and the new cabin will not carry the Allegris naming, but the underlying hardware will be the Group platform. The strategic shift from SkyTeam to Star Alliance is the more immediate operational change — ITA formally exited SkyTeam in April 2026 and joined Star Alliance in May 2026, which has restructured the lounge access, codeshare, and loyalty earning landscape for ITA passengers.

Which routes does ITA Airways operate the A350-900 on in 2026?

ITA Airways’ A350-900 fleet — 7 aircraft as of May 2026 (EI-IFA through EI-IFG, with the latest delivery in March 2026) — operates the principal long-haul routes from Rome Fiumicino (FCO). The headline North American rotations are FCO-JFK (AZ608 daytime and AZ610 daytime — the JFK rotation is the most frequent A350-900 deployment), FCO-EWR (AZ614 — has migrated to A350-900 from the A330-900 as of summer 2026), FCO-MIA (AZ630), FCO-LAX (AZ620 — operating winter-only on A350-900), and FCO-ORD (AZ638 — A350-900 since November 2025). The Latin American rotations are FCO-EZE (AZ680) and FCO-GIG (AZ670 — A350-900 since 2023). The Asian and African routes are FCO-NRT (AZ790 — A350-900 since 2023), FCO-HND (AZ792 launching from the Tokyo Haneda slot pair acquired from JAL in October 2026), and FCO-JNB (AZ842 — A330-900 with selective A350-900 substitution). The Lufthansa Group has confirmed via May 2026 corporate communications that the next-generation A350-900 fleet expansion will focus on the Asian network — Bangkok, Singapore, and a second Tokyo frequency.

What is the Premier Lounge at Rome Fiumicino and what is the Volare loyalty programme?

The Premier Lounge at Rome Fiumicino Terminal 1 is ITA Airways’ flagship Business Class lounge — a 1,000-square-metre facility on the airside at FCO T1 with a la carte dining at the Piazza Italia restaurant (included in Business access), a Negroni bar, and a sleep room equipped with daybeds. The lounge replaced the legacy Alitalia Casa Alitalia in October 2021 and was renovated in 2024 with a more contemporary design language. Access is restricted to ITA Business Class passengers, Volare Executive and Premium tier members, and (from May 2026) Star Alliance Gold members. The Casa Italia lounge — a separate smaller lounge in FCO T3 — is for Premium Economy and Volare Silver. Volare is ITA Airways’ loyalty programme, launched in October 2021 as the Alitalia successor and restructured in May 2026 for Star Alliance integration. The programme operates a four-tier elite structure (Smart / Plus / Premium / Executive) with the Executive tier matching Star Alliance Gold. Volare points convert to Miles & More at 1:1 under the Lufthansa Group integration.

How does ITA Business Class compare to Iberia, Air France, and Lufthansa on transatlantic?

ITA Business Class on the A350-900 is broadly equivalent to Iberia A350-900 Business on the hard product dimension — both are 2018-vintage no-closing-door reverse-herringbone-equivalent platforms (Iberia uses the Stelia Solstys II, ITA uses the Collins Super Diamond). ITA’s catering is the strongest of the four (frequently cited as the best transatlantic catering alongside Turkish Airlines), the wine list is exclusively Italian and curated by Italian sommelier Sandro Sangiorgi, and the soft product anchors in the Italian regional cuisine programme. Compared to Air France Business on the A350-1000 (Stelia Symphony with closing door), ITA is structurally inferior on hard product but maintains parity on soft product. Compared to Lufthansa Allegris Business on the A350-900, ITA is structurally inferior on hard product (no closing door, no throne/Suite Plus sub-types) but the Italian crew vocabulary and catering are competitive. The most important strategic fact is that ITA is moving into the Lufthansa Group cabin programme from 2027 — the new A350-900 deliveries will close the hard product gap with Allegris.

Frequently asked questions

What seat platform does ITA Airways use in Business Class on the A350-900?
ITA Airways operates the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat in a 1-2-1 reverse-herringbone configuration across 33 Business Class seats on the A350-900. The Super Diamond is a 2014-vintage Collins Aerospace platform (originally B/E Aerospace before the Collins acquisition in 2017) that does not include a closing privacy door — the suite shell is a fixed reverse-herringbone shell with the seat oriented at a 25-degree angle from the cabin centreline. The Super Diamond is the same physical seat deployed on American Airlines' older 777-300ER fleet, Cathay Pacific's older Business Class fleet (now being retrofitted to the Aria Suite), China Airlines' A350-900, and Air Canada's 787-9 Signature Class. ITA inherited the cabin specification from Hainan Airlines — the A350-900 frames were originally ordered by Hainan but the order was not taken up, and ITA acquired the airframes from the Airbus inventory in 2022 with the Hainan-spec cabin already installed.
How will the Lufthansa Group acquisition affect ITA's Business Class product?
Lufthansa Group acquired an initial 41 percent stake in ITA Airways in January 2025 (closing after the European Commission approval in November 2024) and exercised the option to increase the stake to 90 percent in May 2026. The remaining 10 percent is held by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance under a long-term holding structure. The product implications for ITA Business Class are significant but slow-moving: the existing 7-aircraft A350-900 fleet retains the inherited Collins Super Diamond cabin through at least 2028; the next-generation A350-900 deliveries (10 additional airframes ordered by Lufthansa Group in May 2026 and expected to be delivered into ITA from 2027) will carry a derivative of the Lufthansa Group cabin platform (Allegris/Senses architecture) under the ITA brand identity, not the Allegris or Senses naming. The CEO of ITA confirmed to aerotime.aero in March 2026 that the brand identity will be protected and the new cabin will not carry the Allegris naming, but the underlying hardware will be the Group platform. The strategic shift from SkyTeam to Star Alliance is the more immediate operational change — ITA formally exited SkyTeam in April 2026 and joined Star Alliance in May 2026, which has restructured the lounge access, codeshare, and loyalty earning landscape for ITA passengers.
Which routes does ITA Airways operate the A350-900 on in 2026?
ITA Airways' A350-900 fleet — 7 aircraft as of May 2026 (EI-IFA through EI-IFG, with the latest delivery in March 2026) — operates the principal long-haul routes from Rome Fiumicino (FCO). The headline North American rotations are FCO-JFK (AZ608 daytime and AZ610 daytime — the JFK rotation is the most frequent A350-900 deployment), FCO-EWR (AZ614 — has migrated to A350-900 from the A330-900 as of summer 2026), FCO-MIA (AZ630), FCO-LAX (AZ620 — operating winter-only on A350-900), and FCO-ORD (AZ638 — A350-900 since November 2025). The Latin American rotations are FCO-EZE (AZ680) and FCO-GIG (AZ670 — A350-900 since 2023). The Asian and African routes are FCO-NRT (AZ790 — A350-900 since 2023), FCO-HND (AZ792 launching from the Tokyo Haneda slot pair acquired from JAL in October 2026), and FCO-JNB (AZ842 — A330-900 with selective A350-900 substitution). The Lufthansa Group has confirmed via May 2026 corporate communications that the next-generation A350-900 fleet expansion will focus on the Asian network — Bangkok, Singapore, and a second Tokyo frequency.
What is the Premier Lounge at Rome Fiumicino and what is the Volare loyalty programme?
The Premier Lounge at Rome Fiumicino Terminal 1 is ITA Airways' flagship Business Class lounge — a 1,000-square-metre facility on the airside at FCO T1 with a la carte dining at the Piazza Italia restaurant (included in Business access), a Negroni bar, and a sleep room equipped with daybeds. The lounge replaced the legacy Alitalia Casa Alitalia in October 2021 and was renovated in 2024 with a more contemporary design language. Access is restricted to ITA Business Class passengers, Volare Executive and Premium tier members, and (from May 2026) Star Alliance Gold members. The Casa Italia lounge — a separate smaller lounge in FCO T3 — is for Premium Economy and Volare Silver. Volare is ITA Airways' loyalty programme, launched in October 2021 as the Alitalia successor and restructured in May 2026 for Star Alliance integration. The programme operates a four-tier elite structure (Smart / Plus / Premium / Executive) with the Executive tier matching Star Alliance Gold. Volare points convert to Miles & More at 1:1 under the Lufthansa Group integration.
How does ITA Business Class compare to Iberia, Air France, and Lufthansa on transatlantic?
ITA Business Class on the A350-900 is broadly equivalent to Iberia A350-900 Business on the hard product dimension — both are 2018-vintage no-closing-door reverse-herringbone-equivalent platforms (Iberia uses the Stelia Solstys II, ITA uses the Collins Super Diamond). ITA's catering is the strongest of the four (frequently cited as the best transatlantic catering alongside Turkish Airlines), the wine list is exclusively Italian and curated by Italian sommelier Sandro Sangiorgi, and the soft product anchors in the Italian regional cuisine programme. Compared to Air France Business on the A350-1000 (Stelia Symphony with closing door), ITA is structurally inferior on hard product but maintains parity on soft product. Compared to Lufthansa Allegris Business on the A350-900, ITA is structurally inferior on hard product (no closing door, no throne/Suite Plus sub-types) but the Italian crew vocabulary and catering are competitive. The most important strategic fact is that ITA is moving into the Lufthansa Group cabin programme from 2027 — the new A350-900 deliveries will close the hard product gap with Allegris.
Share / save