Neos Launches The Only US Connection From Southern Italy

Beaches, sun, and seafood. The South of Italy is notoriously popular, particularly for European holidaymakers during the summer months. But travel to this part of the Mediterranean region is not exclusively dominated by those looking for a sunny getaway. In the US, a fairly significant population with Italian roots exists.

The most prominent population of Italian Americans in the US is, in fact, from the South of Italy. This is much to the benefit of Neos, an Italian airline that launched a summer connection between Palermo and New York JFK with a Boeing 787-9 on June 8. The carrier has a complete monopoly on the route but also on connections between the US and Southern Italy. Indeed, no other carrier offers flights between these two regions.

Photo: GCMap.com

A shift in strategy: from leisure-only to business traffic

The new summer seasonal route is operated twice a week and began back on June 8. The airline operates one of its six Boeing 787-9s on the route, which, per ch-aviation, feature either 355 or 359 seats, depending on the aircraft. Two of the planes are configured with a lesser capacity, while the remaining four have 359 seats, including:

• EI-NEO
• EI-NEU
• EI-NEW (currently undergoing maintenance work in Warsaw)
• EI-NEA

EI-NYE and EI-XIN have only 355 seats and have not yet been used in the Palermo to New York sector. According to Flightradar24 data, the route has been exclusively operated by EI-NEA since its beginning. The aircraft deployed on the flight will vary, though. Cirium data for next month shows that a 355-seater 787 is scheduled to operate on the July 1 and July 20 rotations.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

The new route is particularly important for leisure-focused Neos as it signifies a slight change in strategy. In an interview with askanews at the time of the launch, CEO Carlo Stradiotti explained:

“I believe that New York summarizes well a sort of new direction for Neos which [previously] starts from purely tourist destinations and then 1719247231 works to connect other [destinations] not exclusively dedicated to the activity of national tour operators and foreign countries (with whom we obviously continue to work and who represent the fundamental clientele for the company).

For this flight to New York from Palermo, I am very happy to have seen the first connection in the Sicilian capital. It is another very important step forward in our development perspective.”

The shift of focus away from leisure-only destinations means business traffic on this route is equally important. The carrier also pointed to the possibility of carrying 10 tonnes of cargo per flight alongside passengers with its 787 fleet. The service will fly twice weekly, leaving New York on Monday and Saturday and returning the following day.

It is also worth noting that Neos’ 787s are configured to reflect its primary focus on leisure traffic. It offers 295 (or 291 for -NYE and -XIN) seats in economy class, 36 in “economy extra plus” and 28 in premium economy, its highest-tier cabin.

Neos’ supply against 2023 demand

Booking data from 2023 suggests that approximately 45,000 people traveled roundtrip between the two cities, meaning approximately 865 people per week.

Neos intends to fly about 20,000 passengers on the route over the summer. At the route’s launch, The carrier’s Commercial Director Aldo Sarnataro said that advance bookings provided a positive outlook for its success.

“Sales on Palermo-New York had good advance bookings and this reflects the general trend of what we see in the summer for all destinations. So good advance booking and an increase of around 10% compared to last year’s volumes [for the overall network]. So we are very happy with how the summer is going […].”

Cirium data shows that Neos will provide 18 flights in July alone, offering a capacity of 6446 seats.

Palermo linked to the Milan-New York route

Neos currently operates flights to New York JFK and Toronto from its Milan Malpensa hub, in addition to the new route to Palermo.

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Do you fancy being on them?

In a statement on social media, the carrier said the following about the importance of the new Sicily-originating route in the context of its overall route network.

“This [new route] represents an important opportunity, both in terms of outgoing and incoming traffic, given the strong relationships between the two countries. This new connection amplifies our network to North America, where we are already present with three weekly flights on the New York-Milan Malpensa route, and two on the Toronto-Milan Malpensa route.”

The Palermo and Milan flights to New York are interlinked. First, it’s important to note that Neos has no widebody aircraft based in Palermo. Instead, a Dreamliner is sent on the Milan to New York connection to facilitate the one-off long-haul flight to the Sicilian city; a turnaround is completed, and a few hours later, the same aircraft takes off to Palermo. It then returns to JFK before operating that final flight to Milan Malpensa. Interestingly, flight numbers are also related. Outbound Italy-US flights operate as NO787, while the return flights are coded as NO789.

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Neos has already announced its plans to continue the Palermo-New York connection with an additional weekly frequency in summer 2025.

A long route with an even longer history

This is not the first time the route has been operated; it was first opened by former Italian flag carrier Alitalia (which later became ITA Airways). At one point, the airline even operated the Boeing 747 on the seasonal service with a one-stop routing via Rome Fiumicino. According to Aeroroutes, the route was suspended in the mid-1990s.

Then, Eurofly, a privately owned airline based in Milan, relaunched the route in 2005 per Italiabsolutely. The route was axed following the carrier’s merger with Meridiana, with the last flight in October 2017, according to Palermo Today.

Since then, the route has been left unserved until Neos Air announced last year that it intended to enter the market with direct 787 flights. President of Palermo Airport’s operator Gesap, Salvatore Burrafato, said the following at the relaunch of the connection:

“After many years, the Palermo to New York flight returns which is a great opportunity not only for Palermo Airport, able to handle a massive plane, but also for Sicily. It will be an occasion for cultures to mix and a call to roots-based tourism, which is becoming more important and incisive. Thus starts a new journey that we have shared with Neos and the regional tourism department, marked by a flight promotion activity that touched the territories of Catania, Agrigento, and Palermo”.

Have you flown Neos’ Dreamliner before? Tell us your experience in the comments below.