Review of ITA Airways flight Paris → Milan in Economy

INTRODUCTION

Hello dear FlightReporters,
The last months have been very busy with university. I’ve finished my last year of Architecture and hopefully I’ll graduate next December. Since I couldn’t get any vacation during my last term I decided to make something special during Summer.

Fortunately, it happened that a cousin of mine usually leaves his house in Paris to relatives and friends during summer days. Having visited Paris when I was 8 years old, I didn’t think twice to ask him. The house is in the 2e Arrondissement, in the heart of city.

I decided to stay there the first days of August, since he told me the house would have been free until the 8th of the month.

BOOKING OPTIONS

Around the 20th of May my cousin confirmed that I could get the house from 31st July to 8th August.

I checked on SkyScanner and the best solution appearead to be flying to Orly with Vueling

31st July VY6253 FCO - ORY 13:30 - 15:40
8th Aug VY6933 ORY - FCO 21:35 - 23:25

Total price: 280 euros
Bagpack and checked bag included, no cabin baggag

Unfortunately I was kinda busy that days and when I came back on Vueling website the 3rd of June the ticket had risen to 325 euros
So I started to explore other solutions with Vueling
I skipped immediately the 6:50 flight from Rome since I didn't want to ask my parents to bring me at the airport so early (moreover the flight wasn't so cheaper)

A good solution seemed this:

31st July VY6253 FCO - ORY 13:30 - 15:40
8th Aug VY6250 ORY - FCO 9:35 - 11:40

Total price: 310 euros
Bagpack and checked bag included, no cabin baggage

Even if the price was good, I wasn't really sure about leaving in the morning from Orly, considering it would have take me one hour to get there from my accomodation

Just for curiosity I took a look to Italian State-owned rail company, Trenitalia, which offers a six-hour high speed train from Milan to Paris-Gare de Lyon
Even if the price was fair (270 euros) the journey between Rome and Paris would have taken 10 hours with a change in Milan.

I got on ITA Airways website and I finally found this itinerary:

31st July AZ324 FCO - CDG 15:10 - 17:20
8th Aug AZ313 CDG - LIN 16:55 - 18:35
8th Aug AZ2075 LIN - FCO 20:00 - 21:10

Total price: 266 euros
Bagpack, cabin baggage and checked baggage included

I decided to go for this solution since the price was the cheaper, the time were fine and the stopover in Milan didn't pose an issue for me

Since I was booking in such an advance I add ITA Airways insurance, which costs 20 euros

Being under 35 I was able to use a discount from European Youth Card
This brought the flight price from 266 to 250 plus the insurance, for a total of 270 euros.

ROUTING

Some stats
First time on CDG-LIN route

BEFORE THE FLIGHT

48 hours before the flight I logged in on ITA Airways app to check-in and print my boarding passes
The procedure is kinda easy
Since my fare didn't allow seat selection the system assigned me 6F for CDG-LIN and 25C for LIN-FCO
Not a big issue to have an aisle seat on a route I've done a few times (moreover in the evening), but I'll try to change it at the airport

My seat on Paris-Milan flight…

…and Milan-Rome leg

The day before my departure I got a message from ITA which informed me that my flight had been delayed from 16:55 to 17:15
Not a problem, even if I was worried another postponment would "threat" my stopover in Linate

Arriving to CDG and check-in

With the flight departing around 17 I decided to be at the airport no later than 14:30
I chose to be at CDG earlier since I wanted to visit the architecture masterpiece of Terminal 1

I left home around 13:30, getting Line 4 from Strasbourg-St. Denis to Gare du Nord, where the interchange with RER B is available
To get to CDG a special airport ticket is requested; it costs 11.45 euros and can be purchased in every station

At Gare du Nord I got the 13:59 RER B train

The train was quite busy, especially with departing passenger
I spent half of the ride standing

At 14:35 I arrived at Paris "Charles De Gaulle" Airport
The RER and TGV station is located in the middle of Terminal 2
Halls A to F are connected through covered walkways

The large FIDS showing my plane to be departing at 17:15
Terminal 2F as expected

Heading to Terminal 2F

Air France A320s and A220s and a LM Boeing 737 parked at T2F

AirBaltic A220 landing

easyJet line up at T2D

Air France A320

10 minutes after getting off the train I was inside the terminal

As long as Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 halls A-E, T2F has been designed by French architect Paul Andreu (1938-2018)
Andreu's career is linked to CDG history as no other architect in airports' history ever did

Since FIDS inside the terminal didn't show my flight yet I asked to an Air France agent where ITA Airways counters were located
She was quite in confusion
When I said "old Alitalia" she immediately sent me to row number 3

ITA occupies an entire row
There was no queue when I got there

The agent was very friendly
She asked me if I was ok to check both baggages as it happened on FCO-CDG flight
I had no problem to do it since I'd already one checked luggage
She informed me that the bags would go straight to Rome

I asked if a window seat was available on LIN-FCO route and she gave me 6F, as on CDG-LIN leg 

I got my BPs printed before 15, almost one hour before scheduled boarding time

Even if I wanted to visit Terminal 1 I decided to get straight to security
I gave up on my desire since I wasn't sure how much it would have taken to get there with people mover CDGVAL

Strangely from most of big airports a manned BP control was made before accessing the queue, no e-gates

AT THE AIRPORT

Even if half of the lanes were closed security was a breeze
It took me 10 minutes to get airside

Time to explore T2F airside

Victoria's Secret always present in big hubs

The entrance to the new huge Air France lounge

Large duty free shop

I love those square windows in the concrete walls
But they make spotting a bit difficult

Air France Boeing 777 parked at Satellite L

Air France A319, A220 and A320 lined up at the pier

Pier F21-36, where my flight would depart from

My gate wasn't ready yet

More spotting from the enormous glass walls

El Al Boeing 787 Dream)Liner

I spent most of my waiting in the seating area. Despite the crowd I was able to find a seat
All seats are equipped with electrical plugs. I tried also the Wi-Fi and it worked really good

At scheduled boarding time, 15:55, the plane was still 10 minutes away from CDG
It landed from LIN at 16:04

The plane blocked at the gate at 16:16 and disembark started minutes after

Around 16:30, as deboarding was going on, the agents started to verify BPs and documents

Since the plane was finishing to be disembarked we had to wait inside the jetway

FedEx Boeing777F landing in the distance

The new Air France lounge is located in a building added to the original terminal building

Our today's bird:
ITA Airways Airbus A319-100, EI-IMG, delivered to Alitalia in December '03 (19.7 years old) and kept as part of ITA's fleet
It's equipped with 144 seats in mixed C-Y configuration
The plane, still carrying 2015 Alitalia's livery, is dedicated to Pantelleria island

After 15 minutes of waiting we're finally allowed on board

Door shot

Fuselage view

As I was waiting for the flight I realized I've left my flight report forms in the luggage I've checked

I made my way to seat 6F and I got a very nice surprise. Even if business class occupies rows 1-4, row 6 as extra leg-room too
Very comfortable despite the short flight

Moreover the middle seat was empty, giving me a lot of additional space

We're parked next to an Air France A320 bound to Rome-FCO

Minutes before 17 doors were closed and armed
The crew informed us that the flight time would be around 75 minutes and the weather in Milan sunny with 27°C
After enjoying Paris with 18°-22°C I'm not ready for Italian heat

Ten minutes before re-scheduled departure time we left our gate

Pier F41-56 with many Air France birds parked

Satellite L with a triple line up of Air France Triple-777s

Air France Boeing 777 in SkyTeam livery

Air France A350 and LATAM Boeing 787 Dream)Liner

Delta A330-900 at Satellite M

Taxiing behind a Saudia Boeing 787 Dream)Liner

Air France Boeing 777 bound to Washington-Dulles

We'd depart from runway 26R, right after Saudia 787

Another long taxiing

the flight

At 17.18, three minutes after the re-scheduled departure time, we accelerated on the runway

Air France Boeing 777 and Hop! E-190

Nouvelair A320

Icelandair Boeing 737MAX

Satellites L and M

In the air…

Terminal 2E and the control tower

Terminal 2A-B-C-D

Roissypole and Terminal 1

Andreu's mastepiece, Terminal 1
Runways 9L-27R and 9R-27L can be seen in the background

Climbing westward

We made a 180° turn southward, flying over Paris
Unfortunely we pass exactly over the city center and it was impossible to spot any landmark

Paris Orly Airport

Passing through a light layer of clouds

Ten minutes into the flight snack and beverages were served
Being in the 6th row I was among the first to receive it

The choice was between rosemary crackers and biscuits. I chose the first option and an orange juice
Crackers were fine, even if a bit saltier

Outside the sky was painted by clouds

After the service I rested for twenty minutes
As we were entering Swiss airspace we starded our descent
At 18:10 the crew announced we'd started our descent into Linate, planning to land in around fifteen minutes

Flying over Three Lake Region, in Switzerland

Crossing clouds-covered Alps

Mont Blanc emerging from the clouds

Slowly descending over northern Italy

A small portion of Lake Maggiore appearing between the mountains
Lake Maggiore is the 2nd largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda

Verbania, located on a tip pointed into the lake

Toce river, edning its path in the lake

Milan-Malpensa Airport
Just behind it there's the border between Lombardy and Piedmont regions

MXP Terminal 1

Crossing A4 motorway

Ticino river, which marks the aformentioned border

Pointing eastward over Pavia, where Ticino rivers meets the Po

Banking over Lombardy countryside to align to runway 36
As it always happens in LIN we'd land from south

Melegnano, which marks the southern "gate" of Milan coming from southern Italy

Tavazzano power plant

A1 motorway is the most important in Italy, connecting Milan to Naples through Bologna, Florence and Rome

Melegnano town

San Giuliano Milanese

ENI (Italian oil company) research center

Peschiera Borromeo, the town on which part of Linate Airport lies on

Last moments on air

At 18:23, two minutes earlier than scheduled, we touched down at Milan-Linate Airport
Landing was smooth and brake gentle

Business jets line up

ITA Airways A320s in old and new livery

Lufthansa A320

Docking at a remote stand three minutes after having touched the ground

I was among the first to disembark
Bye bye EI-IMG

In less than 5 minutes we're bussed to the terminal building
50 minutes before the boarding of my next flight

Once in the terminal I asked to an airport employee where to go to for transit flights and he answered me that I was required to exit and pass through security again
This sounded a bit strange since in Linate passenger are disembarked through the jetway directly in the boarding area, making the transfer easier
Not a big issue to go out and in, considering I've more than one hour. Only senseless due to the small size of the airport

Stay tuned for the next leg…