LAX/FCO NONSTOP VIA ALITALIA BEGINNING MAY 21, 2008
 

BREAKING NEWS:

The Alitalia.it website shows new NONSTOP service between LAX and FCO, four times per week beginning May 21, 2008, as follows:

FCO depart 9:10
LAX arrive 13:10 (13 hour flight)

LAX depart 15:10
FCO arrive 12:10 (12 hour flight)

Flights to operate in both directions on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Aircraft used: Boeing 777-200 with 291 seats

Alitalia flights 620/621

Hopefully they will be purchased by Air France before that occurs.

Although the 777s will be nice.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...amp;refer=home

Alitalia used to offer nonstops LAX/MPX, but I heard that ended a few years ago. Is Alitalia doing any better? Maybe this service will be a good indication!

Alitalia's nonstop LAX/MXP flights ended in 2002, after 18 years of uninterrupted service.

The new LAX/FCO services would be the first Alitalia flight to LAX in six years.

GAC,

I MIGHT actually trust them with my luggage on a non-stop. But, I would have to think very seriously about it!!

MORE BREAKING NEWS:

Alitalia has changed its mind: the new nonstop FCO/LAX/FCO flight now appears to commence on Sunday, June 1, 2008, which will be EXACTLY 24 years TO THE DAY of the Alitalia inaugural flight from MXP to LAX on June 1, 1984 (discontinued in 2002).

Air France/KLM has said that they will definitely make Rome the major hub instead of Milan if they take over Alitalia as expected.

The Italians made a enormous mistake making a hub out of Malpensa. But whats a few years to the Italians.

UPDATE: FLIGHT TO OPERATE FIVE TIMES PER WEEK

The new Alitalia service from Rome to Los Angeles is now listed on the Skyteam website.

Nonstop flights are shown to operate

FIVE TIMES PER WEEK (not 4 per week):

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Scheduled flight time is 12 hours to Rome; 13 hours to Los Angeles.

Aircraft is a 777-200 with 291 seats.

www.skyteam.com

UPDATE: Alitalia has SUSPENDED its flights to and from LAX for the winter, and is SCHEDULED to resume nonstop service on Sunday, March 29, 2009, between Rome Fiumicino (FCO) and LAX, using Boeing 777-200 aircraft daily except Tuesdays and Fridays.

If service is indeed restored, it will (once again) be the FASTEST way to reach Rome from Los Angeles, with excellent onward connections to Palermo, Catania, Firenze, Venezia, and other major cities in Italy.

Nonstop service was maintained by Alitalia on this route from June 1 through November 8, 2008, five times per week.

The Alitalia B777-200 configuration has 42 business and 249 economy seats.

BAD NEWS:

The nonstop Alitalia flights between LAX and FCO (flights 620/621) have been de-loaded from both the Alitalia website and the Sky Team Website. They still appear on the Delta website as Delta a Delta codeshare. On the Alitalia website, no service to LAX is shown whatsoever after March 29 (even connecting service via code-share partners). This may signify that the summer schedules to LAX have not yet been finalized.

It looks increasingly dubious that this important service will be restored at the end of March, as previously reported. Unless the Alitalia reservations system is updated very quickly to reflect the nonstop flight, it is unlikely that the service will be restored at the last moment. Perhaps the flight will be restored towards the middle of June, instead of at the end of March???

It is apparent that Air France, as Alitalia's new minority shareholder, is not keen on seeing a restoration of this nonstop flight. Instead, Air France would prefer to route all LAX passengers through CDG.

Posting to be updated as warranted.

Darn! I would have loved this...keep the news coming.

Hi GAC,
As a side note: I booked my Air France LAX to LHR nonstop a few months ago, using Delta AMEX points, and was just informed last week that it is no longer a nonstop, but is now routed through CDG as you stated. It arrives 6 hours later, so now a need to cancel and book other arrangements for the first night. Ughhh!

Just your opinion...Do you think my schedule will change again or do you think the chance of it staying this way is pretty good? Also, does anyone know who I should believe has the correct times for my flight. The Air France operator and site shows flight 67 leaving at 9:15 pm from LAX and the Delta site and operator (whom I booked through) shows 11:15 pm. Both show the connecting flight CDG to LHR the same. Just want to be to the airport on time...not arriving when the flight is just taking off. Not a good way to start a trip!

Mind you I'm not complaining. We have two round trip tickets now using Delta Amex points totaling over $3000 for just under $100 per person. Boy did we luck out. I was just so looking forward to a nonstop...the fewer takeoffs and landings the better!

Thanks for your opinion,
Michele

GAC

Do you think if you fly before the end of March the flight service is guaranteed to continue until at least then?

zeppole - Check the post by GAC from December 2008. AZ has already suspended LAX-FCO for months. The "new" news is that it's not restoring it in the Srpring.

Thanks!

MORE BAD NEWS:

Alitalia's website now shows no more nonstop service between FCO and LAX, even during the summer.

Apparently, flights 620/621, which were supposed to be resumed at the end of March, have been scrubbed.

These flights have also disappeared from both the Delta and the Skyteam websites.

There is no "official" mention anywhere on the Alitalia website that the nonstop service will not be restored.

That is not surprising at all. I'd be shocked if they say they'll resume that flight.

Airlines usually only give our news release when they introduce new routes. Most of the time, cancellations are not posted.

Are they back in business? I thought they were out of business. One couldn't pay me enough to ever fly with them again! Happy Travels!

The New Alitalia has just started flying, owned 25% by Air France-KLM, which will probably take a majority share in 3 years. For the moment, they have to terminate a lot of employees, renew their fleet, and change their hub from Milan to Rome. Check back in about six months.