Alitalia will launch a direct connection from Rome to San Francisco for the 2020 summer season, joining direct competitor Air Italy in linking Italy to the City by the Bay.
The flights will operate three times a week between 1 June and 28 October from Rome’s Fiumicino airport, the airline announces on its website this week. The Italian flag carrier will operate its Boeing 777s in a three-class configuration. It will be the only non-stop flight between the two cities.
San Francisco is Alitalia’s seventh North American destination. The airline, which has been searching for new investors for the past two years, also flies to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Washington.
Earlier this year direct competitor Air Italy also said it will re-introduce flights between Italy and San Francisco next March after it was the only carrier to offer direct flights to Italy during the 2019 summer season. Air Italy will operate four times a week between Milan’s Malpensa and San Francisco, using its A330s.
Alitalia is entering the market as competition for transatlantic traffic from the West Coast of the USA is fierce. Cirium data show that 18 airlines currently connect San Francisco to Europe.
In September, Icelandair said it would discontinue its flights to San Francisco as part of a network restructuring and citing “commercial reasons”.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
