Summary
- ITA Airways is celebrating the launch of a new route connecting London City Airport with Milan’s Linate airport, using its smallest aircraft, the A220-100.
- Milan was one of the top-performing routes from London City, attracting both corporate and leisure travelers.
- ITA Airways is boosting its network and considering connecting London City with Rome Fiumicino to increase connectivity from its primary hub.
The flag carrier of Italy is celebrating a linking the heart of London with Milan. ITA Airways is bringing the smallest aircraft in its fleet to London City Airport, connecting it with Milan’s Linate thrice daily.
Ideal for an Airbus.
The route began this month and will increase to four daily frequencies in January. The arrival of the airline’s new Airbus A220-100, named after Fiona May, was a critical factor in the arrival of the route. The A220-100 is the smallest jetliner currently produced by Airbus, making it highly appropriate for flying to London City Airport (LCY), where operating conditions require the use of smaller aircraft and special certifications.
Milan was previously one of the top five performing routes from London City, with Linate Airport (LIN) being the closest airport to the city center. While the route has traditionally been focused on corporate travelers, the airline is seeing a marked growth in leisure traffic, with people finding LCY a convenient departure point for a weekend away or a short break. Andrew Bunn, Country Manager for the UK, Ireland & Nordics at ITA Airways, sat down exclusively with Simple Flying to talk about how the plane is perfect for the downtown airport:
“As far as we’re concerned in the UK, it’s the perfect aircraft for London City. So it gives us a little bit of flexibility not just on Milan, but also in terms of what future developments we might want to make, you know, it allows a bit of a little bit of growth in that respect.”
Photo: ITA Airways
The arrival of the new flights supplements ITA Airways’ offering to the UK. The carrier already offers 28 weekly round-trip flights from London Heathrow to its two hubs: Rome Fiumicino (FCO) and Milan Linate.
Where is next on the map?
ITA Airways has been expanding its network and increasing capacity as it receives new aircraft at the rate of around three per month. With its all-Airbus fleet of 88 aircraft, the carrier has introduced several new routes from Rome as it seeks to improve connectivity. Over the winter season, ITA will operate to 52 destinations worldwide.
New routes for the season include an Airbus A330 link to Rio de Janeiro and a seasonal service to Malè in the Maldives. North America is the carrier’s most significant international market, with ITA adding flights to Chicago and Toronto for 2024. Domestically, the airline serves 17 cities, in addition to a large selection of regional destinations.
When asked about future route expansion plans, Pierfrancesco Carino, VP of International Sales at ITA Airways, said that the carrier was “evaluating” connecting London City to its main hub at Rome Fiumicino, which would open up an even larger catchment area across the East of England to connect to ITA’s intercontinental destinations.
In addition to the upcoming North American route launches, the SkyTeam carrier has confirmed it will link Jeddah (JED), Riyadh (RUH), and Kuwait (KWI) in the Middle East and Africa’s Accra (ACC) and Dakar (DSS) next year.
From January to October of this year, the carrier flew 11 million passengers across its network. Planes are also fuller than this time last year, with load factors reaching 80%, up 7.5%. For next year, the airline is targeting a fleet of 96 aircraft, two-thirds of which will be efficient next-generation models.