New Route of the Day – Americas (1 July 2023): ITA Airways between Rome FCO and San Francisco
ITA Airways introduced a new transatlantic service on Saturday 1 July between Rome FCO and San Francisco. The 10,080-kilometre route will initially be maintained 3-weekly on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, after which frequencies will be increased to 5-weekly from 1 August. A 334-seat A350-900 is being utilised on the service. The SkyTeam member will compete directly against United’s seasonal daily flights between the two airports.
Flight AZ640 departs Rome FCO at 09:25 local time, arriving in San Francisco at 13:05 local time. The return service, operating as flight AZ641, takes off from the California airport at 15:05 local time, touching back down in the Italian capital at 11:55 local time the following day.
What they said
Emiliana Limosani, Chief Commercial Officer at ITA Airways, said: “The new connection to San Francisco further enriches the intercontinental network of ITA Airways, which is one of the company’s main assets. With the launch of this new destination, the second in California and the sixth in North America, we consolidate the company’s expansion towards the US market, which was the first international market for ITA Airways. The multiple services from our Rome Fiumicino hub to New York, Boston, Washington, Miami, Los Angeles, and the newly opened San Francisco will allow us 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.”
ITA Airways consolidates long-haul network
San Francisco is featured in ITA Airways’ network for the first time, with its predecessor, Alitalia, never having served the city on a scheduled basis. Following the launch of its Rome FCO - Washington service on 2 June and the addition of San Francisco, ITA now serves six cities in the US. During the peak of the summer season, the Italian flag carrier will have 33,724 weekly seats between Italy and the US, making it the third largest airline operator between the two markets based on seat per kilometre offered (ASK).
ITA Airways will further strengthen its long-haul network with the introduction of daily flights between Rome FCO and Rio de Janeiro on 29 October. The Brazilian city will join Sao Paulo GRU and Buenos Aires EZE to become its third destination in South America.
