Review of ITA Airways flight from Cairo to Rome in Business

intro

Tomorrow, I leave on my great African adventure (more on that in a post tomorrow), so I wanted to share this special trip report from my Asia tour back in January of this year. I had booked this trip for two reasons. The first was the fact at how cheap it was, and the second because I wanted to fly the new A321neo!

ITA is a beautiful airline with fantastic seats, amazing food, and great drinks, but if you are a Westerner, the service isn't the best.

Let's get into it! 
Something to note really quickly is that this report was taken when I hadn't received feedback regarding horizontal pictures, so my apologies. 

Of course, the trip started with a tour of the pyramids. I came here when I was about 6, and it's drastically different from what I remember back then. Although Michael Jackson (the camel) was fun company for the day. 

how i booked

Cairo has some fantastic deals over to the US, and I decided to take advantage of exactly that. For 1381$, I was able to secure seat 1A onboard the A321neo to Rome and then the A330-200 over to New York the following day in Business Class.

All in all, this is a deal that I wish I could fly every week, especially for the product found on the A321neo.

check-in/boarding

The driver picked me up at the Fairmont at the Nile (I will get to those reviews after Africa), and we made our way out to the Cairo airport. Check-in was a breeze, and we went through to the lounge (once again, after the Africa trip, I will review it). However, one thing I did not realize was that there are separate lines at security for women and men😂. Oops.

At about 5:20, our inbound plane landed from Rome. Boarding was called about 25 minutes later at 5:45 pm local time. 

I seemed to be one of the first onboard, although I was still getting used to blogging and forgot to take pictures of the cabin😅. 

The FA wished me good evening, and I settled into seat 1A. Oh my gosh, so much space!!

departure

A pre-departure beverage was offered in a beautiful glass. Although, since we were in Egypt, no alcohol was offered on the ground. 

We ended up pushing back 7 minutes behind schedule at 6:02.

However, due to a runway closure in Rome, we didn't end up taking off until about 25 minutes after the hour. 

the seat/cabin

The new ITA A321neo is laid out in a 3-cabin configuration featuring 5 rows in Business Class in a 1-1 configuration, 3 rows of premium economy in a 2-2 configuration, and 141 economy seats in a 3-3 configuration.

I assigned myself seat 1A as they don't charge anything extra for the first row! Pictured is 1F.

The seats are gorgeous and comfortable. Each and every aspect is spacious and sleek. There is infinite room in the first row!

A tray table pops out with the push of a button.

The seat controls were mounted to the side and easy to use. Also, that remote might be the most stylish I have seen on any aircraft, even better than the Singapore Airlines Suites. 

A small cabinet swivels out by pushing it inwards. Look at that material inside as well, big props to you ITA.

And, of course… the bed. Even if this is a narrowbody aircraft, the bed was one of the most spacious surfaces I have slept on in a business-class product. Very comfortable as well!

amenities/ife

Amenities were plentiful for a 3-hour flight. First, we had a "spa kit" featuring a multitude of items. I am not sure why we need these, but I am not complaining.

This was a cool addition to my amenity kit collection at home (currently have way too many).

And if one amenity kit wasn't enough, there was another! This one contained the traditional basic such as socks, sleeping mask and a toothbrush.

Slippers? On a 3-hour flight? Once again, I'm not complaining, I just don't know how I'll ever go back to flying intra Europe & intra US.

Decent-quality headphones were provided as well, but I forgot to take a picture. Bedding was great as well for a flight of this length.  

In regards to IFE, I found the screen to be of great quality and very responsive. The IFE has plenty of good options when it comes to movies, which entertained me for a couple of hours before heading off for a nap. 

Blue is my favorite color, so they might win me over here as well😉.

Wifi was available at 10$ for the whole flight which I thought was reasonable, as well as free messaging.

meal service

Meal service began about 20 minutes into the flight with an aperitif and a choice of drink. Here is what the menu looked like for today. 

I opted for an Aperol spritz because it is my favorite drink. When else can I have one on a plane? 

I decided to skip the appetizer and head straight for the main. Good heavens this might have been some of the best food (veal) I have ever had on a plane. 

I paired the meal with a nice glass of red wine as I watched a movie.

Can we take a minute to appreciate how nice the plating is??

For dessert, I decided to switch up the drinks to a glass of Ferrari Champagne. I don't mind Ferrari actually, and think this is the perfect tribute to the F1 team.

The chocolate dessert came out, and it was delicious. How I didn't put on weight this trip is past my knowledge. 

The best part of the whole flight was the Limoncello. I am a sucker for Limoncello and this didn't dissapoint. 

During the rest of the flight, I just finished up my movie and got a little hour of nap. 

arrival

At 8:10 pm local time, the captain announced our initial descent into Rome. This would be my first time in Italy (even though I grew up in the UK), so I was quite excited!

We touched down at 8:35 and had a 5-minute taxi to our gate. 

Being in seat 1A, the FA bid me farewell and I made my way over to immigration. 

Just in time to catch an Uber to the city to devour my first pizza from Italy! 

Thanks so much for reading and sorry for the vertical photos. Currently, I am trying to grow my instagram and would love to follow some of you guys and girls. My ig is @ktfxrce and I'll follow you back!