INTRODUCTION
Hello dear FlightReporters and happy 2024 to everyone!
The new year brought me great changes.
In December 2023 I finally graduated in architecture. A few weeks later I was offered a big job opportunity as architect-on-site in San Pellegrino Terme, 60 km from Milan. I'd work for the expansion project of Sanpellegrino sparkling water's factory.
Since I starded living (only during the workweek) in San Pellegrino my 2nd home airport became Bergamo-Orio al Serio, located 25 km from the town.
By the end of Febraury I started to plan a trip to visit my family in Rome, having being away from them since Christmas. I decided to leave on Friday and come back to San Pellegrino on Monday evening.
BOOKING OPTIONS
At the beginning of March I started to plan this trip to Rome
First of all I decided to ask Friday afternoon free in order to leave without rush
Initially I took a look for the train from Milan (there's no direct train from Bergamo to Rome) and it costed 210 euros. Moreover getting the train from Milan would have meant driving 60 km, leaving the car at my house and getting to the train station by metro. Too many things to consider and higher risk regarding traffic and so on
Therefore I searched for a flight from Bergamo to Rome. Ryanair used to have flights from BGY to CIA, but now the only air link to the Capital is represented by Aeroitalia
They operated two flights a day
The 6th March I booked these flights:
I had to choose the lowest fare possible (called Basic), which comes with a small baggage to be put under the front seat.
In order to get to BGY by car I booked MilanAirports long-term parking for 35 euros. This brought the total price for the travle to 195 euros, lower than the train.
At the time I booked the flight BGY-FCO route was operated by a Saab 340. By the way, since the week before Easter an ATR 72-600 was used instead.
ROUTING
Flight routing
- 1XZ2014 - Economy - Bergamo → Rome - ATR 72-600
- 2
Some personal stats:
1st flight of 2024
First time flying with Aeroitalia
First time on an ATR72 and on a turboprop aircraft
First time departing from BGY
BEFORE THE FLIGHT
Aeroitalia allows passenger with Basic fare to check-in 24 hours before the flight
The day before the flight I logged in on their website to obtain my boarding pass
Check-in was available only on BGY-FCO leg
The procedure is quite easy and in a couple of minutes I got my BP
The system assigned me automatically 9F, a window seat
To be honest the boarding pass can be improved in graphic, some infos are too close to each other
By the way I appreciate the clear indication of baggage allowance
GETTING TO BGY
With the flight scheduled at 15 I left my workplace around mid-day
According to Google Maps it would have took me 25 minutes to get to Orio al Serio Airport
Half a hour later I parked my car at S3 parking, which is located 1.5km from the terminal
The parking is served by a free shuttle bus which runs every 15-20 mins
Due to the big amount of cars getting into the kiss and ride it took us more than 20 minutes to arrive at the terminal
A few minutes before 13 the bus left me in front of Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport
The airport is dedicated to 17th century painter Michelangelo Merisi, also known as "Il Caravaggio".
The departure hall looking more like a hospital lobby
It was quite packed as the bus terminal outside
Having nothing else to do (apart getting lunch) I made my way to the security filter
waiting and boarding
It took me almost 20 minutes to clear security
The inspection area is equipped with about twelve lanes, but the area in front is a bit cramped, resulting in a bit of mess in the queue
Once airside I checked the FIDS and discovered my flight would have had a 90 minutes delay
Checking on FlightRadar I understood what the situation was.
My flight was the 3rd of the day for that plane
The first leg, BGY-FCO, departed at 12:34 (instead of 8:50) and landed at 13:56 (instead of 10:10)
The second leg, FCO-BGY, departed at 14:47 (instead of 11:10) and landed at 15:53 (instead of 12:30)
Having two hours and half before the new boarding time I explored the departure lounge and searched for a place to eat
The airside is equipped with a good amount of shops with italian and international brands, along as a good food offer
Differently from many airports some parts of the gate lounge has a view on the landside
The huge building in the background is Orio Center, one of the largest shopping malls in Italy
Between the airport and the mall lies the A4 motorway, connecting Turin to Trieste. It's among the most important road links in the Country
It's impressive to see how the airport road network is squeezed between the terminal building and the motorway
After having lunch at McDonald's I moved to the gate lounge
The area is equipped with large glass facades opening to the apron, filling the space with natural light
Only one thing really disappoint me about the departure lounge: even if the area smells new, no seating area is equipped with charging plugs. Some charging lockers are spreaded along the place, but they've a tip to work. This result in people rushing to a couple of plugs in a food shop. Definitely strange compared to other European hubs
Spotting time
Two Ryanair Boeing 737 MAX
FlyPegasus Airbus A321neo with an Aeroitalia Boeing 737-300 taking off in the background
Aeroitalia Boeing 737-700
Eurowings A320 parked at the remote stands
Lauda Motion A320
At 15:53, almost one hour later than scheduled departure, our plane touched down from Rome-FCO
At 16:12 the gate was finally opened
First of all passengers with connections in Rome were invited at the counter to receive new BPs for rescheduled flights
More Micheal O'Leary's birds on the apron
After a short apron ride we reached our plane:
Aeroitalia ATR 72-600, YR-ACB
Delivered to Avianca Guatemala in December 2014 (9.2 years old) it was later part of the fleets of Avianca Express and Aergo Capital. In January 2023 it joined AirConnect's fleet and is now leased by Aeroitalia
The plane, which carries a mixed AirConnect-Aeroitalia livery, has 68 seats in all-Y configuration
First time for me on a turboprop brought me some excitement
Corporate fuselage shot
The cabin is equipped with 17 rows of economy in 2-2 layout
I was barely touching the healing with head (I'm 182 cm)
The view from my seat
The seat is a bit tight, but the legroom was decent
Definitely ok for a hour-long journey
This SmartWings 737 is also leased by Aeroitalia
Boarding was completed 10 minutes before five o'clock
The cabin seems to have undergo a refresh quite recently
At 17 the two propellers came into life with a very nice sound
We left our stand a couple of minutes later
The apron as we taxied to RWY26
easyJet A320 parked in front of the terminal
AlbaStar and Ryanair Boeing 737s at the remote stands
We spent almost ten minutes by the runway entrance
Finally aligning for departure
We taxied for the entire lenght of the airport
THE FLIGHT
Almost two hours and half before scheduled the propellers reached their rpms with a very nice sound
In the air!
Ryanair base
Immediately after we banked southward
Bergamo toll plaza with the city in the background
Dalmine steelworks
River Brembo
Immediately after takeoff we encounter a light turbolence
And the plane got surrounded by clouds
No sight visible
No service was delivered during the flight
The two cabin crew members spent the whole time sitting in the front and back seat
Meanwhile sun started to set
One hour into the flight the seat belt signal was switched on and the cabin was prepared for landing
The crew informed us we would have land in 15 minutes
Some sparks of Roman countryside appearing below us
The landing gear was exactly under my seat
Such a strong noise when it was deployed
We'd land from north
A12 motorway, which passes close to the northern boundary of FCO
Runway 16L as usual for short-haul flights
At 18:37, more than two hours after scheduled, we gently touched down at Rome "Leonardo da Vinci" International Airport
In literaly five minutes we reached our stand, next to a Prime Air Boeing 737
Last view of our plane
Such a cutie, it was a pleasure
As we're bussed to the terminal we passed next to stored old-AZ Triple-7s
A view that's enough to make a grown person sad
Eurowings A320 parking at another remote stand
European birds lined up at pier A61-83
Eurowings, easyJet, Aegean, WizzAir and TAP A320s
Vueling and Iberia A320s parket at pier A61-83 and ITA A320s at pier A31-52
Reaching the terminal minutes before 19
Having cabin baggage only I made my way to the arrival area where my family was waiting for me
Stay tuned for the return flight(mare)…
Ciao Carlo, thanks for sharing this FR! Disappointing not to get to try a now rare Saab 340, only had the chance to fly them once back in the old NW days. The XZ service is quite basic, but as you pointed out, is faster/cheaper than the Frecciarossa so the lack of service is forgivable. XZ is trying hard, they picked up all those turboprops and launched a lot of new routes from AOI so it’ll be interesting to see if they keep growing into the summer months.
Can’t see the XZ logo without associating it with Lazio, which depending on your Roman disposition might be a bad thing^^
Funny that they kept the AV tail. As you said, the cabin has definitely been updated post-AV.
Thought most of them were leased, not sure why they haven’t been transferred on since ITA wanted an Airbus only fleet.
Thank you!
Yeah, I really wanted to try the Saab 340 before they disappear. Fortunately BGY is close to my location and I'd try to have another chance.
Considering the period of "hot" fare XZ was quite a good solution compared to train. Probably in more calm period the train would be better in term of price and service
Regarding AirConnect livery, I'm footbally atheist, but coming from a family that support AS Roma I try not to see eagles around as Lazio's symbol :D
Wish you the best!
Was a reference to AeroItalia being the sponsor for Lazio this season.
I'm so football atheist I didn't know this fact ahaha
Thank you!
Congratualtions for graduating and sounds like a great opportunity!
The red and green livery is striking on this plane!
Love the engine views. Something inhernetly amazing about sitting right next to the propellors on the ATR’s.
Huh Interesting, not even a buy on board system or anything?
Thanks for this unique flight report as I haven’t read much about AeroItalia. Look forward to see what the 737 is like!
Thank you! It's really a great opportunity, I couldn't have asked better after graduation
Yeah, I like their livery and the view of the engine was so cool
And not so noisy as I've expected
Thank you! I was curious to try their product, maybe an airline to keep an eye on
Wish you the best!
Congrats on your graduation and perhaps have a chat with the CEOs of Bergamo to give their terminal an update haha as the terminal is always way too busy and very outdated.
I'm quite surprised with this airline as I felt that it came out of the blue and starting to connect several Italian cities and wondered what kind of service was given to those on board. Apparently not much reading through your flight report. Do you know if the ATR is a permanent fix or was it simply used given the time of the year?
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much!
Surely Orio can have a refresh, as architect I'd love to work on an airport project. Surely I'll spread charging plugs all around as Salt Bae ahahah
When I booked the flight at the beginning of March the route was operated by the Saab 340
It was used until few days before Easter
Atm the ATR is in use for FCO-BGY, I don't know if they're planning any change about
Wish you the best!
Ciao Carlo, Congratulazioni! Congrats on graduation and getting a great job!
Nice to see a report on AeroItalia. They really seem to be doing well for such a new carrier.
I guess it's not so bad having a Basic fare on an ATR since there's no chance of getting stuck in a middle seat haha.
And still has an Avianca tail! Haha, those ex-Avianca ATRs are everywhere...there's even a few parked at my home airport of RDZ in France.
Funny to read there was no service on this 1h flight after just reading Jettoajet's LATAM GRU-GIG report where there's a drink and snack on a 45 minute flight. European and North American carriers don't usually bother with anything under 1h it seems.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kevin, thank you! Glad to read you and hope everything is good
I was thinking the same about Aeroitalia until I landed in Rome. Unfortunately the return flight (still working on the report) really disappointed me, but no spoiler ahaha
Yeah, that livery is really strange, but I appreciated it
Actually I didn't expect "no service", I imagined they would have provided at least a payed food and beverage service
Thank you for reading ;)