Review of ITA Airways flight from Milan to Rome in Economy

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone,
After my graduation in Architecture in July 2021 I apply for a Master’s Degree at Milan Politecnico. The application was successful and therefore I move to Milan on 10th September.

The 8th December is a national religious feast in Italy and this year it falls on Wednesday. Moreover in Milan there's a local feast on 7th December. This means that universities, schools and workplaces would be closed even on Monday 6th.
Having this elongated weekend I decided to visit my family from Saturday 4th to 8th December.

Usually high speed train is the most convenient way to travel between Milan and Rome. It takes around 3 hours and the cost ranges between 50€ and 100€, depending on offers. I check both Trenitalia's (State-owned rail company) and Italo's (private rail operator) websites, but the price was 210€ and 190€ respectively.
I gave a look to Alitalia ehm ITA Airways and the price was 146€. Since I live quite close to Milan-Linate Airport (5km from my home) I decided to go for this option. The price included only the cabin baggage, which is quite a drawback for me, but the lower price made the choice mandatory.

To be honest I was quite curious to try the new italian flag carrier ITA Airways. Being italian and knowing how things go in our Country I still have more than one doubt about the entire operation, but I hope this would end the permanent crisis of italian flag carrier. Finger-crossed for ITA.

Just to give some stats:
First time with ITA Airways
Second time flying on LIN-FCO route (first report here)

BEFORE THE FLIGHT

ITA gives the possibility to check-in through its website 24H before the flight departure time. The evening before the flight I logged in on the website and printed my boarding pass. The seat choice costs 7€ so I decided to put my fate in ITA's hands. Obviously they assigned me an aisle seat. I'll try to change it in a window seat at the airport

The BP is identical to Alitalia's older one. The IATA code is also the same, AZ.

I live in the eastern part of Milan, near Udine metro station, 5 km from Linate Airport. I usually see planes taking off from my home.
To get there from my house the only option is taking the metro to Lambrate station and than taking 2 buses to the airport. The predicted travel time is around 35-45 minutes.  The alternative is to get a car sharing ride, which takes around 15 minutes and the car can be left at the airport parking. 
With the flight taking off at midday I planned to be at the airport around 10, in order to change my seat and to print my BP. I left home around 9 am and found a car sharing quite close. 

Forlanini Avenue, which connects the city to the airport. Road were not so busy, despite being Saturday.

Around 9:30 I arrived at Milan-Linate Airport, dedicated to Enrico Forlanini (1848-1930), an aviation pioneer.

Being close to the airport I think the car sharing is a very good option. I spent less than 10€ and I arrived at the airport in around 20 minutes. The only risk is not to found a car close to the departing point. If leaving from the airport is very easy, because there's a big parking lot for car sharing.

The car sharing lot is located on the 6th level of the parking, which gives and interesting view of the apron…

…and the city skyline

Milan is the only city in Italy with such an amount of skyscrapers

I got inside the terminal and went ITA check-in counters. I already had my BP on my phone, but I asked to change my seat into a window one.

The plane was full, so it was not possible to change my seat. The agent also checked my European Covid Certification and printed my BP. I really like to keep them instead of having just the digital version.

ITA definitely has to change their graphic, I think (and hope) this is temporary…

Having around one hour and half before the boarding, scheduled for 11:20, I proceded straight to the security checkpoint

The area had been renovated recently. It's very big and equipped with many screening lanes. It took around 10 minutes to clear the check.
As usual, the passage throught the duty free is mandatory

The new departure lounge, inaugurated in June 2021, still smelled new

FIDS showing my flight to be on-time and confirming the gate printed on the BP, A19

I went upstairs to buy a present for my parents and found a large window on the apron

The airport looked a bit "empty"
Maybe because of COVID, maybe because of ITA's crisis, which used to bring 60% of LIN's trafic

British Airways A320, Air Dolomiti E-195 in Star Alliance livery, Lufthansa A320neo and ITA A319 in Alitalia's old livery

So lovely

Italian style even for hangars

LEGO-made model of Milan Cathedral

My gate set for departure, 40 minutes before boarding time

Meanwhile our plane landed

I'm gonna miss this livery…

The plane just docked at the gate with some birds in the background

Our plane for today
ITA Airways Airbus A319-100, EI-IMV, delivered to Alitalia in January 2013 (8.9 years old) and transferred to ITA Airways in October 2021
Formerly named "Filippo Tommaso Marinetti"
The plane is equipped with 144 seats in flexible C-Y configuration

Another ITA Airways A320 with a disappearing livery

Lufthansa A320 departing to Frankfurt

Iberia A321 just landed

AirDolomiti E-195 taking off to Zurich

Pilatus PC-12 taxiing on the main apron

ITA Airways A320 in the newest Alitalia livery

Boarding was called at 11:30, ten minutes after scheduled
The operation was quite quick since Covid Certificates had been already checked

THE FLIGHT

Going down the jetway

Door shot
This ITA Airways logo was used before the airline started operation on 15th October 2021

Even if the system assigned me an aisle seat (25D), the last row was empty and I took 26F
The view from my seat as boarding operation was about to end

The plane was full

Leaving the stand at 11:51, perfectly on time

CityLife district in the distance
The "straight" tower has been designed by Arata Isozaki while the "curved" one by Daniel Libeskind

Taxiing towards RWY36

We'd depart towards north
Snowy Alps in the distance

And there we go…

Perfectly on time we got airborne

Linate apron and terminal with Milan Idroscalo visible in the background
This 1.6sqkm-artificial lake had been built in 1930s as a seaplane airport

Mondadori (the largest publishing company in Italy) and IBM headquarters
The first one was designed by brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer

Idroscalo and LIN in the background while heading south to Rome

Linate Airport

Passing through a thick layer of clouds…

…to emerge in the daylight

Another layer of clouds…

Finally in clear sky
If someone asks me why I love flying I'll show this pictures…

20 minutes into the flight a drink was served
I went for an orange juice, quite good in quality
No snack was given

Monte Argentario, in Tuscany

35 minutes after leaving Milan the captain invited the crew to prepare the cabin for landing

Lazio coastline north of Rome
I think we'd land from north on RWY 16R or 16L

Flaps extended

Last moments on air

RWY16R for us
Usually it's used for heavies, however since the pandemy began the number of them at FCO definitely decrease…

At 12:43, 27 minutes before scheduled, we touched down at Rome "Leonardo da Vinci" International Airport

Vueling A320 and ITA Airways A330

Delta Airlines A330 bound to New York JFK, parked at the satellite terminal
So happy to see some heavies again

Etihad Airways Boeing 787 parked at the satellite terminal

Air Canada Boeing 787 and Emirates Triple-7

The satellite terminal hosts gates E31-44
At the moment its the sole gate area which handles all non-Schenghen flights at FCO

We parked at gate E11, inside the newest pier opened in 2016

Before the pandemy the gate area E11-24 was used for non-Schenghen flights, but now it's dedicated to Schenghen operations too

In order to avoid people rushing the disembarkation was made row-by-row, starting from the first one
Since I was in the last row it took around 3/4 minutes to leave the plane

Another ITA Airways A319

After leaving the gate at 13:00 I started a 800-metre-long walk to Terminal 1, where my parents were waiting for me
It took me around ten minutes, since the passage through the main shopping area is mandatory

44 minutes from Milan to Rome and 15 minutes from plane to car. It sounds so strange to say…

The baggage reclaim area of Terminal 1 it's partially under refurbishment since a new area of the terminal opened a few days before. I will see it in a few days since the biggest part regards the departure area. 

I found my parents outside Terminal 1 and we drove home. In general the airport didnt' seem to be busy, even if it was Saturday

See you for the return flight…