ITA Airways Launches New Chicago – Rome Nonstop Flight

ITA Airways opened its new Chicago O’Hare – Rome Fiumicino nonstop connection on April 7, bringing the total of the North American destinations it serves this summer to seven. The inaugural flight, which departed at 3pm (local time) from Chicago was operated with an Airbus A330neo aircraft.

The new direct connection will operate up to 6 weekly frequencies, increasing to 7 from June. Moreover, ITA Airways will offer 140 weekly flights between North America and Italy in the peak of the season, including the Toronto – Rome nonstop flight launching on May 10.

According to a company announcement, the US is the airline’s first strategic market after Italy. The new route will allow the airline to add a further access for point-to-point traffic and onward connections to other destinations within the country, combining leisure and business traffic flows.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony at Chicago O’Hare International Airport

ITA Airways Ribbon cutting ceremony Chicago – Rome nonstop flight.

To celebrate the launch of the new intercontinental route, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the departure gate of Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Present at the ceremony was Emiliana Limosani, ITA Airways Chief Commercial Officer and CEO Volare, Thomas Botzios, Consul General of Italy in Chicago, and Amber Ritter, Managing Deputy Commissioner and Chief Commercial Officer for the Chicago Department of Aviation.

“This new destination, the seventh in North America, further enriches the intercontinental network of ITA Airways and consolidates our expansion towards the United States, which is the first international market for our Company,” said Limosani.

ITA Airways’s intercontinental expansion strategy

Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

The new Chicago route is a further step in ITA Airways’ intercontinental network expansion strategy for this summer, including 57 destinations, with 16 domestic, 26 international and 15 intercontinental. North America, Africa and the Middle East are the markets where the airline will launch nonstop flights from its Rome Fiumicino hub. In May, direct connections to Toronto and Riyadh will be launched. In June it will be the turn of nonstop flights to Accra and Kuwait City, in July to Dakar and in August to Jeddah.

Furthermore, in the peak of the summer season, ITA Airways will add 11 seasonal connections including Rhodes, Heraklion, Corfu, Kefalonia in Greece; Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Menorca in Spain; Split in Croatia; and Lampedusa, Sardinia and Pantelleria in Italy.

The new intercontinental destinations for summer 2024 join the direct long-haul flights already operated to New York, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and New Delhi.