According to official airport statistics, Alitalia carried 15,970 passengers between LAX and FCO during the month of July (when flights were daily in both directions), resulting in an average load of 258 passengers, or 88% occupancy factor.
For July, Alitalia placed seventh amongst the European carriers, finishing behind Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Turkish Airlines, but ahead of Swiss, El Al, Aeroflot, and Iberia.
So far, Alitalia's statistics are nearly a carbon copy of those of last year.
Because Alitalia's LAX service is only from May through mid-November, end-of-year statistics are likely to place the carrier at the bottom of the heap, compared to the other European carriers (which have year-round flights).
Alitalia Registers an 88% Occupancy Factor at LAX in July 2012
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I wish they'd do that flight year round.
Because Alitalia's LAX flights have such a dismal seat occupancy factor in winter, the carrier loses money on this expensive service during the off-peak periods of the year.
If more people were willing to travel to Rome (or to Southern California) during the winter, the flights could be year-round.
Even with a much smaller plane (which Alitalia lacks), I'm not sure that the necessary economies of scale on this route could justify winter flights, and making a stopover at ORD (as Alitalia used to do 25 years ago) is not a great solution, either.
According to official airport statistics, during the month of August, 2012, Alitalia carried 16.617 passengers between LAX and FCO (when flights were daily in both directions), resulting in an average load of 268 passengers, or an 91.5% occupancy factor, statistics which are (expectedly) just slightly higher than those for July 2012.
Such a high overall occupancy ratio signifies that economy class is likely sold out, and lower occupancy rates for business and economy-plus classes.
As in July, Alitalia placed seventh in August amongst the European carriers, finishing behind Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Turkish Airlines, but ahead of Swiss, El Al, Aeroflot, and Iberia.
So far, Alitalia's statistics are nearly a carbon copy of those of last year.
Because Alitalia's LAX service runs only from May through mid-November, end-of-year statistics will place the carrier at the bottom of the heap, compared to its European rivals, which maintain year-round flights.
Also, yesterday marked the end of 92 consecutive days of daily flights to LAX: beginning today, flights are reduced to FOUR TIMES WEEKLY, and will reduce further to 3X weekly at the end of October.
September 2012 was another very good month for Alitalia on the LAX/FCO route:
According to official airport statistics, during the month of September, 2012, Alitalia carried 16,190 passengers between LAX and FCO (when flights were daily in both directions), resulting in an average load of 270 passengers, or a 92% occupancy factor, statistics which are just slightly higher than those for July and August 2012.
Such a high overall occupancy ratio signifies that economy class is likely sold out, and lower occupancy rates for business and economy-plus classes.
As in July and August, Alitalia placed seventh in September amongst the European carriers, finishing behind British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Turkish Airlines, but ahead of Swiss, Aeroflot, El Al and Iberia.
Sunday November 11 will be the last flight of 2012. Services are scheduled to resume on May 1, 2013
UPDATE:
Alitalia will not be operating LAX flights today or Sunday, November 11. The last flight of the season operated on Wednesday, November 7.
Flights are scheduled to resume on Wednesday May 1, 2013, four times per week (Wed-Fri-Sat-Sun).
On June 1, 2013 the flight is scheduled to become DAILY through the end of September 2013.
Alitalia turned in a very strong performance in October on the FCO/LAX/FCO route: according to official statistics, 9,199 passengers were carried in both directions on 17 round-trip flights, resulting in an average passenger count of 270, or a 92% seat occupancy ratio (equal to that achieved in August and September, when flights were daily).
These statistics prove that Alitalia can operate a profitable service to LAX even in the late Fall, and despite not having a daily flight.
Such a high overall occupancy ratio also signifies that economy class is likely sold out, and lower occupancy rates for business and economy-plus classes.
In October, Alitalia placed eighth amongst the European carriers, finishing behind Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Turkish Airlines, and Swiss, but ahead of Aeroflot, El Al and Iberia.
LAX Flights are currently suspended until May 1, 2013.
Surprisingly, Alitalia turned its strongest performance in November on the FCO/LAX/FCO route: according to official statistics, 1668 passengers were carried in both directions on 3 round-trip flights at the beginning of the month, resulting in an average passenger count of 278, or a 95% seat occupancy ratio (higher than that achieved in August and September, when flights were daily).
These statistics once again prove that Alitalia CAN operate a profitable service to LAX even in the late Fall, and despite not having a daily flight.
Such a high overall occupancy ratio also signifies that economy class is likely sold out, and lower occupancy rates for business and economy-plus classes.
For 2012, Alitalia placed tenth amongst the European carriers, finishing behind British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Turkish Airlines, Swiss, El Al and Aeroflot and ahead of only Iberia.
Flights are currently suspended until May 1, 2013.
It's quite a shame that, according to recent press reports, Alitalia is once again in very serious financial trouble, being "killed off" by European low-cost carriers as well as the high-speed rail services of Trenitalia and ITALO TRENO on mainland Italy. Reports suggest that Alitalia will even abandon its Milan/Rome route, once its most profitable.