GAC

Alitalia begins its summer 2013 service between FCO and LAX on May 1 with nonstop flights on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays through the end of May, then DAILY flights from June through September, tapering off at the end of October or early November. The service goes into hibernation for the winter and early spring.

Flights are operated with Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with 293 seats (30 Magnifica, 24 Classica Plus and 239 Economy), and take roughly 12.5 hours westbound and 11.5 hours eastbound.

As in previous years, Alitalia (code share with Delta) will be the exclusive operator of nonstop flights between Rome and Los Angeles (and indeed, between Italy and California).

The nonstop flights allow good connections to numerous cities in Italy, including Palermo and Catania.

Seat map:

http://corporate.alitalia.it/it/comp...-alitalia.html

GAC

UPDATE reflecting May Results:

According to official statistics from the LAX Airport Authority, Alitalia began its 2013 season on a very strong note: a 91% seat occupancy factor on its 13 eastbound flights during May (and a 76% seat occupancy factor for the same 13 westbound flights).

On a combined basis, the average passenger load was 244, or an occupancy factor of 83%. The relatively higher occupancy factor for the eastbound flights is not surprising, as passenger flow TOWARDS Italy begins to take off in May. The relatively lower occupancy factor for the westbound flights perhaps explains why Alitalia does not (at least for now) increase its weekly flights during May beyond three (daily beginning in June).

Alitalia placed 11th (last) amongst European Airlines, behind (in order) British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Turkish, Swiss, Aeroflot, El Al, and Iberia.

Clearly, there is plenty of room for improvement (as passengers numbers swell between June and September).

At the very end of the 2012 season, Alitalia's LAX flights registered a phenomenal 95% seat occupancy factor, which proves that the nonstop service is in very high demand during the summer months.

Alitalia's 777-200s have been refurbished with individual seat TV screens, but an extra seat has been added to each row, resulting in a layout of 3-4-3 (and tighter seat room).

Absent schedule updating, the LAST LAX flight for 2013 appears to be on October 26.

GAC

Alitalia's new 3-4-3 configuration in economy class on the refurbished 777-200 is clearly shown in this video, beginning at 2'22" (together with economy plus and magnifica classes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6E7htxEYyU

GAC

ALITALIA INCREASES PASSENGER TRAFFIC FROM LAX:

Official traffic statistics just published by the LAX Airport Authority reflects a positive uptrend for Alitalia compared to last year: on an annual cumulative basis through the end of June 2013, Alitalia carried 16.1% more passengers on its LAX/FCO/LAX flights compared to the same period in 2012. This is primarily due to the fact that, contrary to this year, last year Alitalia did not operate a daily flight into LAX during June.

Specifically, last month Alitalia's daily nonstop flight carried 14,083 passengers in both directions, resulting in an average load of 235 passengers and an occupancy factor of 80.1%. The occupancy factor for May 2013 (when there were only three flights per week in each direction) was 83.3%.

For the month of June, Alitalia ranked seventh to Europe, behind Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Turkish, and ahead of Swiss, El Al, Aeroflot and Iberia.

While these results are certainly quite respectable, I note that Lufthansa's occupancy factor on its THREE daily nonstop flights to Germany during June was an astounding 97.7%.

Results for the rest of the summer months are expected to be stronger than those for June.

GAC

Alitalia has increased its passenger occupancy factor for July 2013 on its daily nonstop flight to LAX: according to official traffic statistics, Alitalia carried 16,146 passengers in both directions to/from LAX last July, resulting in an average load of 260.4 passengers and an occupancy factor of 88.9%. The occupancy factor for June 2013 was 80.1%.

For the month of July, Alitalia continued to rank seventh to Europe out of LAX, behind Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Turkish, and ahead of Swiss, El Al, Aeroflot and Iberia.

GAC

Official LAX airport statistics are out for the month of August 2013:

Alitalia flew 16,527 passengers in both directions on its daily nonstop flights between FCO and LAX, resulting in an average passenger load of 266.6 passengers, or an average occupancy factor of 91%.

During August of last year, Alitalia few 90 more passengers on this route, indicating that the passenger load has stabilized.

For the month of August, Alitalia continued to rank seventh to Europe, behind Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Turkish, and ahead of Swiss, Aeroflot, El Al, and Iberia.

Beginning today and for the next two weeks, Alitalia will maintain five weekly flights to LAX, dropping to three per week for the last two weeks of October.

The last flight for 2013 is scheduled for October 26, 2013.

NOVELTIES FOR 2014:

LAX flights will be suspended until April 30, 2014, when they will resume at three times per week until June 2014, after which they will become daily for the balance of the summer. Next year, flights will depart and arrive one hour later in both directions, which is a more reasonable schedule for the westbound crossing, to allow for a better connection from feeder flights within Italy.

GAC

Today is the last Alitalia nonstop flight for 2013 between FCO and LAX.

AZ 620 from FCO arrived five minutes late into LAX.

AZ 621 departed LAX on time for FCO.

There will be no further flights on this route for the rest of 2013.

Alitalia will return to LAX on May 1, 2014 with a reinforced frequency of FIVE flights per week (up from three per week in previous years). Flights will run one hour later (in both directions) than in previous years. Service will become daily from June through September.

All of the foregoing contingent on Alitalia still operating next year!

GAC

ALITALIA SEPTEMBER FLIGHTS TO LAX HEAVILY PATRONIZED

Official LAX Airport Statistics report that Alitalia registered virtually full flights during the month of September between FCO and LAX: the daily flights had an average passenger load of 272, or a 92.8% occupancy factor. A total of 16,318 passengers were flown in both directions, nearly as many as in August (which had 31 days).

Passenger loads and occupancy factors have been steadily increasing during 2013:

May: 244 pax = 83.3% (three flights per week)
June: 235 pax = 80.1% (daily flights thru September)
July: 260 pax = 88.9%
August: 267 pax = 91%
September: 272 pax = 92.8%

In September, Alitalia ranked seventh to Europe, behind British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, and Turkish, but ahead of Swiss, Aeroflot, El Al and Iberia.

Alitalia LAX flights are suspended for the winter, and will re-commence on May 1, 2014 with FIVE weekly flights in May and DAILY flights in the summer. The significant increase in service during May of next year likely reflects increasing demand for nonstop flights in the weeks before the start of the summer season.