In recent days, Italy has formally closed the long-running case of its former long-range government aircraft, an Airbus A340-500 registered I-TALY, sold for the symbolic price of one euro. The aircraft, which had been leased from Etihad Airways, never became a stable element of Italy’s state aviation posture, and its disposal marks the definitive end of an ambitious but short-lived experiment.
The aircraft had been grounded at Rome Fiumicino Airport since 2018, after the newly installed Italian government terminated the leasing arrangement only a few years after it entered service. The A340-500 had been made available through a complex leasing chain involving Alitalia and Etihad, at the time a strategic shareholder in the Italian flag carrier. When the lease was cancelled, attempts to return the aircraft to Etihad or reintroduce it into the commercial market failed, leaving the jet parked and progressively depreciating.
Registered as I-TALY, the Airbus A340-500 was one of the most capable long-range platforms ever operated, even briefly, by the Italian state. Powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 553 engines, it offered a range exceeding 16,500 km, enabling non-stop intercontinental missions from Italy to East Asia or the Americas. With a maximum take-off weight close to 380 tonnes and a cruise speed around Mach 0.82, it filled a niche that no other aircraft in the Italian inventory could cover.
Despite these capabilities, operational use remained limited. Before being withdrawn from service, the aircraft reportedly flew fewer than 100 institutional missions. Once parked, the lack of a clear future path, combined with the structural decline in demand for four-engine widebodies, rapidly eroded its residual value. By the early 2020s, the aircraft had lost airworthiness status, making a return to flight economically unrealistic.
The symbolic one-euro sale reflects these market realities. The A340-500 family has long been out of production, and operating costs, fuel efficiency concerns and environmental constraints have rendered such aircraft unattractive. While the airframe itself is no longer viable, some components still retain value. The sale included the aircraft, its engines, onboard systems, manuals and associated equipment, with the current plan focused on dismantling and selling parts, particularly engines and avionics, on the secondary market.
The closure of the I-TALY file also draws attention to Italy’s current government transport fleet. Today, the backbone consists of three VC-319 aircraft, based on the Airbus A319, platforms that are now ageing and for which a replacement has been discussed, at least informally, in recent years. Alongside them, the fleet relies on smaller business jets, including Gulfstream models and Falcon 900s, which are well suited for regional and medium-range missions but lack true intercontinental, non-stop capability.
From a strategic perspective, the end of this episode underlines the difficulty of sustaining high-end government aviation capabilities without long-term political consensus and clear operational requirements. Leasing the A340-500 from Etihad provided Italy with an impressive, immediate solution, but one that proved fragile once priorities shifted.
Today, with the aircraft sold and destined for dismantling, the story stands as a cautionary example of how state aviation choices, especially when based on leased commercial platforms, can quickly become liabilities if not embedded in a coherent, long-term strategy.
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