The Italian Job

The Italian Job

Disclaimer: Not all tags featured are currently available for purchase.

The arrival of Aviationtags cut from an Alitalia Airbus A321 wasn’t something anybody immediately expected, however that isn’t to say it’s not a welcomed addition. I-BIXN first took to the skies for Alitalia in March 1996, and was retired in October 2019, making it quite an old bird with a 23 year lifespan. 

It was made very clear upon release that only two variations would feature, whole green and whole white. Both are covered in this short review. 

There’s a wide variety of A320 family tags that are available from Aviationtag. Whilst not the most famous aircraft in the world, it’s easily recognisable as being one of the biggest selling narrow body aircraft in history. Despite being grouped into the A320 family, tags from A321s specifically are few and far between, with only one other previous release being cut from the same type (Metrojet EI-ETK). 

The two tags host the usual level of detail we’ve come to expect from Aviationtag. Since the release of G-EUOH, more attention to smaller details such as correct engines and trailing edge fairings has been paid to A320 family aircraft. These details are picked out perfectly in this release. 4000 tags have been cut from this aircraft - which seemingly is the current standard amount. From what I’ve seen, the quality of the tags is fairly consistent across the entire range, I’m yet to see a tag with any significant damage or scuffs as part of the manufacturing process. 

The paint finish has a very glossy shine to it, equally noticeable on either tag. The green is a very deep shade, much darker to that of the Germania A319 releases. Initially I wasn’t overly convinced I liked such a dark shade of green, but it’s certainly grown on me the more I’ve looked at it. Depending on your tag, you might also notice that the engraving on the white edition has a slight green hue to it as well. It’s worth pointing out that it’s virtually impossible to get a “good” photo of the green tag. In the photo published here it looks very dark, whereas in the stock photo used for the product itself, it looks a lot lighter. It really does depend on what light you view the tag in. 

It would appear that Aviationtag were able to secure image licensing for this release, as the cardboard backs feature a stylised version of the instantly recognisable Alitalia tail fin logo. As for the “logo” engraving on the tag itself, we have a shield design, similar to that of the badge on the Italian national football team shirt. 

All in all, I’d argue this has generally been quite a successful release. It goes without saying that the green tags sold extremely quickly. I think some people may be a bit bored of A320 family tags, maybe the same can be said for white tags as a whole, but as mentioned earlier, this saves itself by specifically being an A321.

If you want a piece of Italian aviation history yourself, you can purchase your own on our store page.

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