Summary
- ITA Airways launched a new Rome-Chicago route using fuel-efficient Airbus A330neo aircraft.
- The carrier plans to increase frequencies to seven weekly by June due to high demand.
- The airline’s rapid network growth includes new routes to London City and Tokyo, alongside plans for flights to Toronto.
Italian flag carrier ITA Airways opened its newest international route, a nonstop connection between the airline’s fortress hub at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (FCO) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) on Sunday. The inaugural flight departed at around 15:00 in the afternoon from Chicago and is set to touch down shortly after 07:00 on Monday in Rome.
The aircraft operating this new transatlantic service is the Airbus A330-900neo, among the most modern in ITA Airways’ fleet. The aircraft offers the most impressive fuel efficiency, digitalization, innovation, and technology of any plane in the airline’s fleet, and the jets were also partially made at lease in Italy.
In celebration of the new intercontinental route’s launch, the carrier held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the departure gate at ORD. Present at the event were members of ITA Airways’ leadership team, alongside airport officials and local politicians, all of whom were quick to express their excitement about the new nonstop connection.
Service specifics
The new service will offer six weekly frequencies initially, a number that will quickly increase to seven by June. The carrier’s leadership has been quick to demonstrate its confidence in the new route.
Photo: ITA Airways
Emiliana Limosani, ITA Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer spoke about the new service.
“The newly opened Chicago enhance[s] our efforts to be the reference carrier from the United States to Italy and via Rome to Europe and the Mediterranean for the Italian community, the international business communities in North America as well as the major communities in the Mediterranean region.”
With consistently high demand during the summer months, the carrier hopes its decision to upgrade this flight to a weekly service will be validated by high load factors throughout the peak travel months. The airline’s extensive network of flights between the United States and Rome already includes nonstop services to New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Washington DC (IAD), Miami (MIA), Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO).
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The outbound flights from Rome to Chicago are set to operate on a traditional daytime schedule, departing from the Italian capital at 09:20 and touching down in the windy city shortly after lunchtime at 13:10. Back across the Atlantic Ocean, the airline’s services are set to follow the aforementioned overnight schedule.
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Rapid expansion
Sunday’s inaugural flight follows a rapid wave of expansion for the relatively young Italian flag carrier. Just a couple of weeks ago, the carrier launched flights from Rome to London City Airport (LCY) and daily connections from its Rome hub to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND).
Photo: SimoneAmi | Shutterstock
In total, the carrier will now offer an impressive 140 weekly flights between North America and Italy during the peak summer season, including seven different US connections. ITA Airways also looks forward to adding direct connections to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), which are set to commence on on May 10th.
The airline’s rapidly expanding US network helps the carrier expand point-to-point connectivity in what it sees as one of its most critical markets. In total, the airline will fly to 57 destinations this summer, including 16 domestic services alongside 26 international and 15 intercontinental flights.
