Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
In this FR I'd like to present a review of the old Alitalia's heritage in the ITA Airways' fleet - A332 with old(shit) economy cabins. This flight was the return leg in FCO-YYZ-FCO ticket with the first leg being operated by a new A339, which has been already reviewed. So, this FR is kind of comparison of how old AZ looks against new AZ within ITA operation.
Intro
ITA Airways, being quite a successfull relaunch of old Alitalia, is an all-Airbus airline. Whereas it has quite a number of the new-gen widebody and narrowbody types: 6 A359s, 11 A339s, 7 A21Ns, 19 A20Ns, 14 A223s and 12 A221s, at the same time it has a few old-gen types, inherited from old AZ: 5 A332s, 17 A320s and 10 A319s. Whereas A320s and A319s can cover some grounded (due to PW engines problems) A20Ns, A332s are placeholders until more new A339 arrive. And, as you'll see further, onboard experience differs drastically between A339 and A332.
These A332s have rare (for A332) 3-class layout C20_W17_Y219. Worth to note the 3 of these birds (EI-EJG/H/P) will soon be transferred to Azul Brazilian Airlines (where W will be marketed as kind of "economy plus").
Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
Toronto Pearson airport is the main gateway of Canada, located not far from downtown Toronto and connected with the city centre by a convenient rail link with frequent trains. YYZ consists of two big terminals: T1 and T3.
ITA Airways operates from T1, and its flights (as well as TAP Portugal flights) always depart from midfield concourse of T1, connected with the main building by bus shuttles.
The Aircraft
The aircraft of today is 2012-built GE-powered EI-EJP (the newest A332 in AZ fleet and the one of 3 units that are destined to join Azul fleet soon). It was hard to make a decent photo of it from the midfield concourse, and I made it later in FCO.
The Business Cabin
The business class cabin, located between 1L/R and 2L/R doors, consists of 20 Stelia Solstys seats in 1-2-1 layout. For today's standards these seats are extremely obsolete with aisle-oriented seats being fully exposed. One can also find these seats in Azul's A332s and Iberia's A333s (IB A346s, retired in pandemic, also had these seats in business).
The Premium Economy Cabin
The premium economy cabin, located after 2L/R doors, is small and consists of 17 seats in 2-3-2 layout. It will be shown further.
The Economy Cabin
The economy class consists of 219 seats in standard 2-4-2 layout, distributed between two cabins: the front one between premium economy and 3L/R doors and the rear one between 3L/R and 4L/R doors.
The front economy cabin. Do you already feel these old(shit) vibes? Please note on the 2nd photo in the gallery that armrests in the central 4-seaters are arranged as if the layout was 2-2-2-2, and how beefed the armrests itself are. You'll see how does it result in the lateral space of the seat…
The rear economy cabin. The 3-seater central blocks in the last rows 40 and 41 are reserved for crew rest and have a curtain.
The Economy Seat
My seat is 42L in the very last row. During online check-in I was assigned a shitty location in the Y cabin, and was not able to change it for a better one at the boarding gate, but when I boarded the plane, I saw that all the duo blocks in the very rear were vacant and took the 42JL one.
The economy seat model is one of the old Recaro models. Please hold tight - now you'll see how appaling can be economy seats in just 12-years-old plane!
First of all, the seatwidth is shockingly ultratight - just 16.5" !!! Yes, you read it right - 16.5" in 2-4-2 A330 with modern (for A330ceo standards) cabin panels, allowind the seatwidth up to 18.1". Sure, one of the reason for this miserable seatwidth are beefed armrests and an extra armrest in 4-seater block (which is de-facto 2-2 block). If old AZ replaced these armrest with thin ones, it would've been able to fit these Recaros 9 abreast, like in Air Caraibes, Corsair, Cebu Pacific or AirAsiaX A330s! The waste of the cabin width is even more unbelievable than even in Edelweiss A343!
Second, the seat is literally falling apart - starting from the adjustable headrest…
… and continuing with the seat pocket. Have you also noticed these huge underseat power boxes? The row pitch itself is decent, but these boxes destroy this advantage…
I really don't get how can one fly longhaul with these boxes. They are even more annoying than the underseatboxes in Lufthansa B747-8i! Thankfully, I have 2 seats and can place my legs away from these boxes!
The seat has obsolete IFE, but with adjustable angle of the screen, USB port, coat hander and one-piece tray table.
The remote control of the IFE is hidden in the armrest. This is why armrests are so beefed. At least you can't accidentally press a button on the remote.
As the icing on the cake, the armrest don't go full way up, only halway. Even you have 2 seats for yourself, you cannot fully use the space! At least, I managed to lay down under the armrest to have some sleep…
It's hard to imagine how appaling can be an economy seat, ordered in 2012, where, for example, excellent Weber 5751 seats (like in IB A346 - whereas IB crew are the worst in the world, the airline at least thought about passenger's comfort!) were available in the market! At least seatback doesn't feel paper-thin and hard - in ancient times Recaro was able to produce acceptable seatbacks, which is unbelievable nowadays! Do you get what a shit was old AZ, having ordered this crap for its longhaul economy cabins and how far better is the modern AZ (even though Safran Z400 seats lack seatback comfort) ?
The IFE menu. At least it was not too shitty and even had some content to see.
The Flight
We departed on time. When flying over east Canada, there is almost nothing interesting to see outside.
Inflight view of the front economy cabin…
… and of the rear one.
The only interesting part of the flight views-wise were the sunset light on the wing and the setting waxing moon.
The meal - chicken with vegs, meat salat, dessert and bun - was very decent, props to AZ and YYZ catering! The crew were very nice and friendly, as on the precedent FCO-YYZ flight.
As the flight was not full, I used the chance to ask for the additional meal, this time lasagna, which also was decent:
Then it was time to get some sleep.
The second meal service consisted of just a small cake.
Descending to FCO in the dusk with the Lazio coast under the wing.
I discovered that IFE had the camera (a true rarity on A330 despite the inferior quality of the picture!) and watched the moments before touchdown.
The tug that would tow us to a remote stand and the "follow-me" car.
The Economy Cabin After The Flight
Views of the rear economy cabin upon disembarkment…
… and of the front one.
Premium Economy Cabin After The Flight
Detailed views of the premium economy cabin upon disembarkment.
The Business Class After The Flight
And the last glance on the business class cabin before leaving the aircraft. I didn't make detailed photos of the seats.
The Aircraft After The Flight
And here is EI-EJP in the morning light after the transatlantic flight.
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
Great report as always! Wow, you would think this cabin is more than 20 years old, not just 12! Definitely a sharp contrast with the modern cabins on the A330neos and A350s.
Wow, crazy to see such tight seat width on an A330 in 2-4-2! As you mentioned, that's more akin to LCC 3-3-3 configuration width! What a shame to not take advantage of the full cabin width with wider seats, considering 18" is more typical for standard A330 config in Y. I assume seats have a bit more width since seats in the last rows are almost always slimmer to accommodate the curvature of the fuselage in the rear. But still, that's crazy!
At least the cabin crew were friendly and the catering was decent.
Hah...I would hope AD update these cabins since
Thanks for sharing!