WestJet is ready to relaunch its summer network, bringing it back to almost pre-pandemic levels. This means a full-scale return to transatlantic routes, and includes the introduction of some new frequencies, including the long-awaited direct Calgary-Rome Fiumicino flights. These were initially planned for May 2020 and then postponed due to the pandemic, but now they will be starting on 7 May, with three weekly frequencies.

Direct access to the Eternal City from Western Canada

"For the first time the people of Western Canada will have direct access to the Eternal City,” said Ed Sims, president and ceo of WestJet, at the announcement of the new service in late October 2019 WestJet’s ongoing strategy of expansion from Calgary reinforces the airline’s commitment to investing in an airport that is increasingly an international hub. “The use of the Dreamliner on the Rome route as well as the ability to operate non-stop also positions us as a preferred choice to travel to the Italian capital."

WestJet will operate 600 daily departures 

During the peak season the Canadian carrier will serve 43 domestic, 23 cross-border, 16 Caribbean and eight transatlantic destinations, restoring 94 percent of its pre-pandemic routes, with more than 600 daily departures across the entire network. WestJet also plans to increase connections between Halifax and Paris, London, Dublin, Glasgow and Edinburgh, while the new daily flights between Toronto and Chicago are scheduled to begin on 19 May, 2022.

Ryanair’s network grows this summer with new fights from Alghero in Sardinia and from Catania and Comiso in Sicily.

New Catania to Brussels, Frankfurt, Genoa and London flights

Flights on the two Sicilian airports increase with 32 frequencies from Catania Fontanarossa, including the four new entries to Brussels, Frankfurt, Genoa and London. There will be eight routes from Comiso Iblei Airport, including two new entries: Venice and Bari.

Over one million passengers in the next 12 months

Alghero has almost doubled the number of flights operated in the pre-pandemic period: over 160 weekly flights (90 more than in summer 2019) on 22 routes, including four new services to Bordeaux, Budapest, Cork and Dublin.  The airline estimates it will carry over one million passengers in the next twelve months.

Flights from Alghero to ten countries

"This growth reinforces our commitment to Sardinia, connecting Alghero with ten countries and giving tourism a much-needed boost in this long-awaited summer," said Jason McGuinness, commercial director of Ryanair.

EasyJet’s summer includes seven new routes in Italy: with new international flights from Naples, Venice, Bari and Pisa. It is also extending its Turin - London Gatwick with up to 5 flights per week during the summer.

Flights to the Greek islands 

Mykonos flights will operate again from 24 April, with two weekly frequencies, and from 27 June the new route to Kos will be inaugurated operating four weekly flights. In June three new routes from Naples to the Greek islands will start operations, with Kos, Santorini and Kefalonia all connected to Naples Capodichino Airport with two weekly frequencies.

Bari to Paris and Pisa to Berlin services 

Bari to Paris flights start from 27 March to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport with three flights a week, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. From June Pisa sees the return of Berlin flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and for the first time Turin can count on the extension of the historic Turin-London Gatwick route through the summer season, operating up to 5 times weekly.

Tap Air Portugal is warming up its engines with a view to summer 2022 and, as of 27 March will be once again operating flights on six Italian airports, as it did before the pandemic, for a total of 93 weekly frequencies between Italy and its Lisbon hub.  

Flights from six Italian cities

As of 28 March and through the summer season Tap Air Portugal will operate 28 weekly flights from Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino, 14 from Venice and 8 from Florence, in addition to 7 from Bologna and 8 from Naples.

Punta Cana and Cancun are two new destinations from Lisbon

Starting on 21 June services to Caracas via Lisbon will resume with Tuesday and Saturday Airbus A330neo flights and a capacity of 298 passengers. Also via Lisbon, Tap passengers can fly to North America and to Brazil, which has now reopened its borders to leisure travel, Africa and the Portuguese islands.  Punta Cana and Cancun are two new destinations, with the possibility of a Portugal stopover free of charge for up to 5 nights, either on the outward or the return leg. 

A codeshare with Ita and high-speed Trenitalia combinations

Thanks to the codeshare agreement with Ita Airways Italian passengers can choose to depart not only from the six airports served directly by the Portuguese carrier, but also from Brindisi, Bologna, Bari, Catania, Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Lamezia Terme, Turin, Trieste and Verona. In addition, the agreement with AccesRail and the resulting codeshare with Trenitalia, means passengers can use high-speed train/plane combinations on the same ticket, starting or ending their journey in the central stations of many Italian cities. 

The green revolution of Trenitalia continues with new generation and hybrid trains and enhanced passengers services, as the Italian state railways gears up for a return to its summer schedule, and to an expected upswing in holiday traffic and international arrivals.

"We are looking optimistically at a third consecutive successful summer season – said director of regional business management Sabrina De Filippis – as we continue to expand our network of destinations, add exciting new services and introducing new generation rolling stock.”

 

The new trains put the emphasis on green travel

The regional fleet continues to grow, and already has over 50% of new generation trains with a wide range of passenger comforts and facilities, and a special emphasis on green travel.

“Working with bus companies we have extended our services to areas that can only be reached by road.  Now our new trains have onboard bike stations with secure racks, further extending our reach by making it possible for passengers to continue their train+bus journey on bicycles.” 

Blues trains cut emissions and noise levels  

With Trenitalia’s regional fleet set for an 80% renewal over the next four years, June 2022 will see the arrival of the first of the 110 new Blues trains. With a green footprint that allows a 50% reduction in fuel consumption, the Blues represents a generational leap. With triple diesel, electric and battery power, the trains run on diesel motors on non-electrified lines, on electric motors on electrified lines, and on batteries for the first and last mile on non-electrified lines, and during stops in stations. Thus avoiding the use of fuels, eliminating emissions, and greatly reducing noise levels in urban areas.

The first children’s play area on a train

 “Passengers will also find new services on board - continued De Filippis - including enhanced luggage storage areas and USB sockets and the other great novelty, and another first for a regional train, the colourful play areas for children.”

American Airlines is betting on Rome again and, for the summer of 2022, will be operating routes from five airports in the United States to Rome’s Fiumicino airport. Daily Philadelphia services will start from 3 March and run through the 2022-2023 winter season. From 5 April it will be the turn of the daily seasonal flights from the hubs of New York JFK, Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago, and after more than two years since it was suspended the seasonal Charlotte-Rome route will also resume.

Back to 2019 traffic levels 

"We are simply thrilled to be back as the airline offering the highest number of daily connections between the United States and Rome during the summer season”, commented Rhett Workman, Managing Director EMEA and Asia Operations of American Airlines. “Italy and Rome are two very important destinations in our global network and, thanks to the great collaboration with Aeroporti di Roma over the last two years, we are happy to return to the same levels as in 2019. This is an excellent starting point for us to start growing again side by side."

Fiumicino one of the most efficient airports in Europe and worldwide

"The United States is the main intercontinental market for Rome and Italy, and the first one that returns to operating routes in line with pre-Covid levels,” added Ivan Bassato, Chief Aviation Officer Aeroporti di Roma. “This was also possible thanks to the constant partnership with airlines in developing and implementing security protocols that have made Fiumicino one of the most proactive, innovative and efficient airports in Europe and worldwide."

Three classes of travel experience

All American Airlines flights between the US and Rome Fiumicino will be operated by Boeing 777-2 and Boeing 787-8 aircraft equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi, power outlets and screens for access to in-flight entertainment at each individual seat. Passengers travelling on all these routes can choose from three travel experiences: Flagship Business, Premium Economy and Main Cabin.

Flyr is expanding its European network with the addition of five new destinations, including Pisa, which is the third in Italy. The new route from Oslo to Pisa Galileo Galilei, operating from 6 May - initially with two frequencies per week on Mondays and Fridays, that will increase to three in July and August - joins those already operating to Rome and Milan Bergamo.

Flyr flies to 13 destinations

Waiting for the rebound in travel demand expected for the summer, Flyr closed the month of January with a total of 30,042 passengers who traveled to 13 destinations. Numbers that were influenced by the adaptation of supply to the reduced demand for travel caused by the increase in the spread of Omicron, as well as to the restrictions implemented by the government in December.

A satisfying load factor for January

Total capacity in January, with an average of 3 aircraft in operation, was 53.5 million ASKs (available seat kilometers), with a load factor of 53.7%. "The home office recommendation and newly implemented social restrictions greatly affected the aviation industry and led to a substantial reduction in customer bookings, particularly for January. Considering this situation, we are very pleased with the load factor we achieved during the month," commented Tonje Wikstrøm Frislid, Ceo of Flyr.

A fleet of Boeing 737-800s

Flyr is a Norwegian low-cost passenger airline. Headquartered in Oslo with an operational base at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, the airline operates Boeing 737-800 flights within Norway, and between Norway and European leisure destinations.

With the many new and repeat low-cost flights dedicated to ski destinations, Turin airport is relaunching its bet on snow-related traffic. The airport has already handled some 56,000 foreign skiers in the first nine weeks of operations.

Many new flights to ski destinations

Many of the new ski routes and airlines are in addition to those previously operated on Caselle Airport. In fact, starting with the 2021-22 winter season, Ryanair will offer five new ski routes from Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, London Luton, and Shannon. In addition it has increased its frequencies from Dublin, which have gone from one to three flights per week. In the summer of 2022, routes to Dublin and Edinburgh will also be introduced.

Other routes are back to normal

Wizz Air's Warsaw route has been confirmed as have Jet2.com's Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Manchester routes, and easyJet's Bristol, London Gatwick, London Luton, and Manchester routes have also restarted. Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, London Gatwick, Manchester, and Newcastle are connected by charter flights, as are Gothenburg, Malmo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, and Warsaw.

A fast recovery to ski destinations

The main reference markets for the Turin Airport snow segment, namely the United Kingdom (from which 74% of skiers arrive), Ireland (14%), Scandinavia (10%, divided between Denmark, Finland, and Sweden), and Poland (2%), have thus been confirmed to be stable. This is also thanks to the fact that some countries have relaxed restrictions, allowing a faster recovery of traffic to ski destinations.

Favourite ski resorts in Italy 

While the British market prefers packaged ski holidays to Sauze d'Oulx, Cervinia, and Sestrières, as well as Bardonecchia, Clavière, La Thuile, and Pila, Scandinavians prefer Cervinia, Sauze d'Oulx, Champoluc, and Courmayeur. Furthermore, a sizable number of passengers travel across the Alps to the nearest French ski resorts.

Air Serbia adds three new routes from Belgrade to Bari, Trieste, and Bologna, and now Italy ranks first in terms of the number of destinations served by the airline: six in total with those already operated to Milan, Rome, and Venice.

New routes are operated with Atr72s 

In the case of Bari, this is a seasonal flight with three weekly frequencies that will operate from 5 June to 27 October. Trieste and Bologna flights will begin on 2 and 6 June 2022 respectively, and will operate three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for the Friuli capital; Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Bologna). An Atr72 will be used on all new routes.

Close economic relations between Serbia and Italy

"Italy is an extremely important market for both our company and Serbia, in consideration of the very close economic relations between our two countries,” said Manager Planning and Operations Manager Bojan Arandjelovic. “We are particularly satisfied with the direct flights to Trieste, a city with the largest Serbian diaspora in Italy, while the connections with Bologna will help to strengthen our cultural and economic relations with Italy."

An expanding European network

The company, which has already announced new flights to Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, and Rijeka (Fiume) plans to continue expanding its network with the aim of recovering 2019 traffic levels by 2023, thanks to a performance that was higher than the European average in terms of the number of passengers and the load factor in 2021. Overall Air Serbia carried 1.5 million passengers in 2021, up 76% from 2020, although this figure is still 43% lower than in 2019.  

All and sundry wild about Italy? So it would seem, and it may not be a simple excess of optimism triggered by the two years of negativity linked to the pandemic. In January 2022 searches for international flights to Italy soared by 201% over the previous year, a figure still below the pre-Covid January of 2020, but only by 36%. 

These figures come from an analysis on travel intentions and bookings by digital marketing platform Sojern. And Italy is topping the list of the countries from which flight booking searches originate with 33.4%, followed by Germany, the United States (12.1%) and the United Kingdom (8.7%).

Airlines on the profitable transatlantic routes are champing at the bit to capitalise on this trend, with the US majors, American, Delta and United, stepping up operations - at least on paper. And so are Ita Airways, Neos and, of course Emirates with its Airbus A380 service to New York.

Even the International Air Transport Association is playing up the upswing in travel demand as it keeps pace with the removal of travel restrictions. It’s still too early to quantify the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. There will be consequences, at least in the short term, but air transport is resilient...

Mariella Cattaneo
Journalist