Hello everyone
This short report will cover a weekend in Rome visiting my family, in mid-November
The occasion would be my sister's graduation and the first time seeing my family after two months
One month before I checked the best solution to get to Rome from nearby Bergamo
Since train (from Milano) and plane (from BGY) costed around the same, I chose the latter
The choice was motivated by practical reasons: getting to Rome by train means for me driving 1 hr to Milan (after work, so in rush time), parking the car and taking the metro to the station
While leaving from BGY means only a short car ride from my workplace
Here's the chosen solution:
Despite my terrible experience with Aeroitalia last Easter (7hrs of delay on FCO-BGY) I saw no alternatives
ROUTING
XZ2224 - Economy - Bergamo → Rome - Boeing 737-400
XZ2225 - Economy - Rome → Bergamo - Boeing 737-400
THE FLIGHT
In order to get the flight at 21 I decided to leave home around 19
This would give me enough time (20-30 mins) to get to FCO and have dinner also
Minutes before 19.30 my parents drove me to Rome "Leonardo da Vinci" Airport
Aeroitalia operates at Terminal 1
The check-in hall was quite busy
Before greetings my parents my dad and I watched Jannik Sinner winning the ATP Finals in Turin
Funnily many commercial banners around had the tennis champion as testimonial
The match ended moments after we arrived at the terminal
Greetings my parents I made my way to the security filters
Even if most of the lanes were opened there was bit of queue
I cleared the process in about 10 minutes, accessing the departure lounge before 20
The shopping area had been extended since my last time here (mid-April)
Having half a hour before boarding (and gate announcement) I went upstairs to get dinner
The food court is dominated by Eataly, which offers many stands with Italian cuisine
At 20.30 the gate was announced
As I was having dinner I checked the inbound flight from BGY and discovered it departef at 20.23 rather than 19.00
Re-scheduled landing was 21.09
Some spotting walking to the gate:
easyJet, Ryanair and Iberia birds at pier A61-83
The pier handles domestic and Schenghen flights
The gate was too calm once I arrived
Around 20.35 the Swissport agent gather all the passengers and told everyone BGY was at risk of closing due to severe weather conditions
He mentioned visibility concerns related to fog, quite usual in Bergamo area
He told that around 21 he would have receive further infos
In case of cancelation he told that the first available flight was at 21.10 of the day after, 24 hours later
Many passengers reported that the monday flight was postponed from 7.05 to 21.10, forcing them to anticipate the departure on Sunday evening
As the inbound flight touched down the agent informed everyone that the risk of closure had dropped
Fortunately…
Boarding started 15 minutes later
The bus ride was quite long, passing in the middle of ITA's reign
The flight was operated by the same plane that brought me to Rome two days before
Aeroitalia Boeing 737-400, 9H-FOR
The plane took its first flight the 1st Febraury 1991
With almost 34 years of service this is the oldest bird I've ever flown with
Considering the plane was carrying less than 60 passengers I was able to get again the emergency exit seat
The self check-in had assigned me a central one (17B)
Parked next to a twin brother
Even if the boarding was completed quite fast we had to wait half a hour to hear the engines switching on
Leaving the parking space at 22.20, more than one hour later than scheduled
Runway 7-25, usually used for departures, was undergoing surface renovation
This means runways 16L-34R was used for landings and 16R-34L for take-offs
Such a long queue to go…
Ethiopian Airlines A350 bound to Addis Abeba, parked at pier E11-24
ITA Airways A330neo departing to Sao Paulo
At 22.43, one hour and half after scheduled time and 25 minutes after leaving the stand we lined up for departure
Taking off southward on runway 16R gives a great view of FCO's terminal area
As we got through the clouds we experienced a light and short turbolence
The flight was quite eventful
Outside the total darkness made spotting impossibile
35 minutes into the air the cabin was set for landing
As we approached BGY the countryside appeared covered in fog
For most of the descent we're surrounded by fog
Ground turned visible just a few moments before touchdown
At 23.31 (one hour in delay) we roughly touched down at Milan-Bergamo Airport
The airport was completely wrapped in fog
Blocking a few minutes after landing
Disembark was quite short
Time to say goodbye to this old-boy
After being ride to the terminal I made my way straight to the exit
My friends picked me up around midnight and in 20 minutes they left me home
Thank you for the atten
