EI-IKB – ITA Airways Airbus A320: From Alitalia to a New Italian Era

Few aircraft can represent the transition between two generations of Italian aviation as clearly as EI-IKB.

Built in 2000, this Airbus A320 spent more than two decades flying in Italy.

Its story began with Alitalia.

It later witnessed the end of that historic airline.

And then it became part of ITA Airways – the new Italian flag carrier that began operations in 2021.

During its long career, the aircraft carried two names connected with two very different Italian icons.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

And Giacomo Agostini.

It also wore two very different visual identities.

The classic Alitalia colours.

And later the distinctive blue of ITA Airways.

When EI-IKB was finally retired in 2023, it had become a physical link between the old and new eras of Italian aviation.

Today, part of its genuine fuselage skin has been preserved by Aircrafttag.

Born as MSN 1226

EI-IKB was built as an Airbus A320-214.

Its manufacturer serial number was MSN 1226.

The aircraft made its first flight on 13 April 2000.

It was powered by CFM International CFM56 engines and belonged to the enormously successful Airbus A320 family.

But EI-IKB was not its original registration.

When the aircraft entered service, it carried an Italian registration:

I-BIKB.

And its first airline was one of the most famous names in European aviation.

Alitalia.

I-BIKB

The aircraft entered service with Alitalia in 2000.

Its registration was:

I-BIKB.

The Airbus became part of the airline's short- and medium-haul fleet.

For Alitalia, aircraft such as the A320 were essential.

They connected Rome and Milan with destinations throughout Italy and Europe.

Domestic flights.

European capitals.

Business routes.

Holiday destinations.

Feeder services connecting passengers into Alitalia's long-haul network.

I-BIKB became part of this everyday European operation.

Alitalia

For generations, Alitalia represented Italy around the world.

The airline's green, white and red tail became one of the most recognizable airline identities in Europe.

Its history included aircraft such as the Douglas DC-8, Boeing 747, McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and many different Airbus types.

By the time I-BIKB entered service in 2000, the Airbus A320 family had become an increasingly important part of European short-haul aviation.

For passengers, the aircraft offered a modern single-aisle cabin.

For airlines, it offered efficiency, cockpit commonality and operational flexibility.

The A320 would become one of the most successful commercial aircraft ever produced.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

During its Alitalia career, I-BIKB carried the name:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The choice reflected Alitalia's tradition of naming aircraft after important cultural figures.

Mozart was Austrian, but his life and career were deeply connected with Italy.

He travelled extensively through the country and composed several works for Italian audiences.

The name added another layer of identity to the aircraft.

It was no longer simply I-BIKB.

It was an Alitalia Airbus named after one of history's most famous composers.

Flying for Alitalia

For years, I-BIKB worked across Alitalia's European network.

Short-haul aircraft accumulate history differently from long-haul jets.

A wide-body might operate one long flight lasting ten or twelve hours.

An Airbus A320 can complete several sectors in one day.

Every sector adds another takeoff.

Another landing.

Another pressurization cycle.

Another turnaround.

Passengers leave.

Baggage is unloaded.

The cabin is prepared.

New passengers arrive.

And the aircraft departs again.

Over more than two decades, the number of individual journeys becomes enormous.

From I-BIKB to EI-IKB

In November 2010, the aircraft's registration changed.

I-BIKB became:

EI-IKB.

The new Irish registration reflected the ownership and leasing structures associated with parts of the Alitalia fleet.

But the aircraft remained in Alitalia service.

For passengers, little changed.

The Airbus continued flying within the airline's network.

The registration on the fuselage was different.

Its operational role remained familiar.

EI-IKB would keep this registration for the remainder of its active airline career.

A Changing Alitalia

The years that followed were difficult for Alitalia.

The airline underwent repeated restructuring.

Ownership changed.

Financial problems continued.

Competition intensified.

Low-cost airlines transformed European short-haul travel.

At the same time, Alitalia remained an important part of Italy's transport system.

EI-IKB continued flying through these changes.

The aircraft had entered service in 2000.

It remained active through the 2000s.

The 2010s.

And into the 2020s.

By then, the Airbus itself had become a veteran.

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented crisis for global aviation.

Italy was one of the first European countries severely affected.

Passenger traffic collapsed.

Aircraft were grounded.

International travel restrictions spread.

Airlines throughout Europe entered survival mode.

For Alitalia, the pandemic arrived after years of existing financial difficulties.

The airline's future was increasingly uncertain.

A new Italian carrier was being prepared.

ITA Airways.

The End of Alitalia

Alitalia operated its final flights on 14 October 2021.

An airline that had represented Italy for decades disappeared from scheduled passenger operations.

The following day, 15 October 2021, ITA Airways began flying.

ITA Airways was a new company rather than simply a renaming of Alitalia.

But parts of the former Alitalia operation moved into the new carrier.

Aircraft were among the most visible connections between the two eras.

EI-IKB was one of them.

From Alitalia to ITA Airways

On 15 October 2021, EI-IKB became part of ITA Airways operations.

The aircraft that had already spent more than twenty years associated with Alitalia now entered a completely new airline chapter.

At first, aircraft transferred from the old fleet could still visually reveal their Alitalia origins.

But ITA Airways was developing an entirely new identity.

The most obvious symbol of that identity was colour.

Blue.

The ITA Blue Livery

ITA Airways introduced a striking blue aircraft livery.

The fuselage was dominated by deep blue.

The airline's ITA Airways branding incorporated the colours of the Italian flag.

Compared with Alitalia's predominantly white fuselage, the change was dramatic.

EI-IKB was eventually repainted into this new ITA Airways design in 2022.

The transformation was significant.

The same physical aircraft that had spent more than two decades associated with Alitalia now visually represented a new Italian airline.

The aluminium underneath remained the same.

The identity above it had changed completely.

Giacomo Agostini

The aircraft also received a new name.

Giacomo Agostini.

Agostini is one of the most successful motorcycle racers in history.

The Italian rider became a motorsport legend through an extraordinary career that included multiple world championships.

Naming EI-IKB after Giacomo Agostini connected the aircraft with a very different kind of Italian heritage.

Under Alitalia:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Under ITA Airways:

Giacomo Agostini.

One aircraft.

Two names.

Two airline eras.

Two completely different cultural identities.

A Flying Symbol of Transition

EI-IKB became particularly interesting because it physically represented the transition from Alitalia to ITA Airways.

This was not a newly delivered Airbus painted in ITA colours from the beginning.

It had already lived an entire airline career.

It had carried millions of passenger kilometres under Alitalia.

It had worn the old airline's colours.

Then the aircraft survived the transition.

It was repainted.

Renamed.

And sent back into service for the new airline.

The aircraft itself became a bridge between the two companies.

The Airbus A320

The fact that EI-IKB could remain useful for so long also demonstrates the success of the Airbus A320 design.

The A320 first entered commercial service in 1988.

Its fly-by-wire technology represented a major step in commercial aviation.

Instead of conventional mechanical control connections, pilot inputs were interpreted electronically.

The cockpit philosophy became the basis for generations of Airbus aircraft.

The A320 family also offered substantial commonality between different variants.

A319.

A320.

A321.

This made the family enormously attractive to airlines.

Decades later, the design remains one of the foundations of global short-haul aviation.

EI-IKB spent more than twenty years proving that longevity.

More Than Two Decades in Italy

By the time the aircraft entered ITA Airways service, it was already old by short-haul fleet standards.

Its first flight had taken place in April 2000.

The aviation world had changed enormously since then.

New aircraft generations had arrived.

The A320neo had entered service.

Fuel efficiency had become increasingly important.

Cabin expectations had changed.

Digital technology had transformed airline operations.

Yet EI-IKB continued carrying passengers.

A Short ITA Airways Chapter

Compared with the aircraft's long Alitalia career, its time with ITA Airways was brief.

That does not make it unimportant.

Quite the opposite.

The short period is what makes the aircraft such an interesting piece of transitional aviation history.

EI-IKB was old enough to represent Alitalia's past.

But it survived long enough to wear the full blue identity of ITA Airways.

It connected two eras that otherwise appear separate.

Retirement

In September 2023, EI-IKB was retired from service.

More than 23 years had passed since its first flight.

Its commercial career was over.

There would be no third major airline chapter.

No new passenger operator.

No new identity.

After more than two decades of Italian aviation, the aircraft was prepared for its final journey.

Teesside

In October 2023, EI-IKB was transferred to Teesside in the United Kingdom.

The move marked the final chapter of its flying life.

Aircraft arriving at dismantling and recycling facilities still contain enormous value.

Engines.

Landing gear.

Avionics.

Flight controls.

Interior components.

Reusable parts can support other aircraft.

Materials can be recycled.

But eventually the complete aircraft disappears.

For EI-IKB, the blue ITA Airways Airbus would not remain intact forever.

From EI-IKB to Aircrafttag

Part of the genuine fuselage skin of EI-IKB was preserved and transformed by Aircrafttag into collectible pieces of aviation history.

The material had experienced more than two decades of airline operations.

Alitalia.

ITA Airways.

I-BIKB.

EI-IKB.

Mozart.

Agostini.

White Alitalia colours.

Blue ITA Airways colours.

Thousands of flights.

Thousands of takeoffs and landings.

European winters.

Mediterranean summers.

Ground handling.

Maintenance.

Pressurization.

Original scratches, dents, marks and surface variations can remain visible.

They belong to the aircraft's real history.

This is not material created to represent an ITA Airways Airbus A320.

It comes from the actual aircraft.

Airbus A320-214.

MSN 1226.

EI-IKB.

I-BIKB to EI-IKB

The two registrations divide the aircraft's life into another interesting story.

I-BIKB represents its early Alitalia years.

EI-IKB represents the later Alitalia period and eventually ITA Airways.

But despite the change in registration, the physical aircraft remained the same.

The aluminium survived every change.

Every repaint.

Every new identity.

That continuity is what makes genuine aircraft skin so fascinating.

Mozart to Agostini

Few aircraft can claim such contrasting names.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart represents classical music and European cultural history.

Giacomo Agostini represents speed, competition and Italian motorsport.

The aircraft carried both identities during different periods of its life.

Those names also reflect the airlines that selected them.

Alitalia looked toward cultural heritage.

ITA Airways developed its own naming tradition around prominent Italian sports personalities.

EI-IKB became part of both approaches.

Alitalia to ITA Airways

The most important story of EI-IKB remains the transition between the two airlines.

Alitalia disappeared in October 2021.

ITA Airways began operations the following day.

They were legally distinct companies.

But passengers could see physical connections.

Aircraft.

Airport operations.

Routes.

People.

And the broader role of a national carrier.

EI-IKB became one of the aircraft that made that transition visible.

It flew in Alitalia colours.

Then it flew in ITA Airways blue.

Few objects can illustrate that aviation transition as directly as a piece of the actual fuselage.

A Piece of Italian Aviation History

EI-IKB's career began in 2000.

It flew for Alitalia as I-BIKB.

It became EI-IKB in 2010.

It witnessed Alitalia's final years.

It entered service with ITA Airways on the new airline's first day of operations.

It received the blue ITA Airways livery.

It was renamed Giacomo Agostini.

And in 2023, its career finally ended.

The complete aircraft would eventually disappear.

But part of EI-IKB survives.

Preserved by Aircrafttag, genuine fuselage skin from this Airbus A320 provides a physical connection between Alitalia, ITA Airways and more than two decades of Italian aviation history.