(AGENPARL) – Rome, 2 June 2024
(AGENPARL) – Sun 02 June 2024 PRESS RELEASE
ITA Airways starts connections with Saudi Arabia
The new direct Rome Fiumicino – Riyadh flight left today
Rome, 2 June 2024 – ITA Airways, the national airline of reference, today launches connections with Saudi Arabia with the first direct flight between Rome Fiumicino and Riyadh. Present at the ribbon cutting ceremony at Terminal E of Leonardo da Vinci airport in Fiumicino for ITA Airways Tommaso Fumelli, VP Italy Sales and Pierfrancesco Carino, VP International Sales; Carlo Baldocci, Plenipotentiary Minister serving at the General Directorate for Political Affairs and Ambassador designated in Riyadh; Sami Ibrahim Al Yahya, Head of Office of HRH the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Italy; Fabio Nicolai, Deputy Director General of ENAC; Raffaello Biselli, Councilor for Commerce and Markets, productive activities and Suap of the Municipality of Fiumicino; Susann Kern, Country Manager Italy of Saudi Tourism Authority and Federico Scriboni, Aviation Business Development Director of Aeroporti di Roma.
Emiliana Limosani, Chief Commercial Officer ITA Airways and CEO Volare, said: “We are proud to inaugurate today our first direct flight to Riyadh and Saudi Arabia, a rapidly expanding and strategic market for ITA Airways especially for business traffic. The new Rome – Riyadh connection marks a significant milestone for our Company and will intensify exchanges between the Arabian Peninsula and our country. Our commitment to the Middle Eastern region will continue with the introduction of new direct flights to Kuwait City and Jeddah in July and August respectively.”
“Saudi Arabia is a rapidly expanding market – declared Federico Scriboni, Aviation Business Development Director of Aeroporti di Roma – with approximately 200,000 passengers transported in 2023. Fiumicino has quadrupled its traffic volumes in 2019, a growth trend confirmed in the first quarter of 2024, up by +33% compared to the same period last year. The launch of ITA Airways’ new air connection to Riyadh demonstrates the growing importance of a market, with excellent prospects for further development for both the leisure and business segments”.
Delighted to welcome the new air route from Riyadh to Rome, Ayman AboAbah, CEO of Riyadh Airports Company, which manages King Khalid International Airport, said: “This is a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to expand our network and strengthen our our connections with major global cities. We are excited to offer our passengers more travel options and look forward to welcoming travelers from Rome to discover the rich culture and hospitality of Riyadh. This new route is a testament to our commitment to providing a high level of service and enhancing the travel experience for our passengers,” concluded the CEO.
The newly launched connection operates with five weekly frequencies, departing from Rome Fiumicino every day except Tuesday and Saturday at 3.25pm and landing in Riyadh at 9.25pm (local time) and departing from Riyadh every day except Wednesday and Sunday at 01:45 (local time) and arrive in Rome Fiumicino at 06:35.
The new connection is operated with a new generation and technologically advanced Airbus A321neo. The A321neo is the first narrow body aircraft configured with three separate cabins: Business Class (12 seats), Premium Economy (12 seats) and Economy (141 seats of which 12 dedicated to Comfort Economy). Efficient and silent, the new A321neo boasts fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per seat that are more than 20% lower and allows for a 50% reduction in noise impact compared to previous generation aircraft. Among the distinctive elements of the new aircraft, the Airspace cabin with new colors and new materials, the latest generation seats, the new customized ITA Airways interior lighting and the XL overhead bins stand out. Furthermore, each seat is equipped with an entertainment system with latest generation “on demand” video and audio, a 17.3” (Business), 15.6” (Premium Economy) and 13.3′ touch-screen ‘ (Economy) with low reflectance and 4K resolution for a simple, fluid and intuitive user experience.
The opening of the new Rome – Riyadh flight represents an important product for the Company, which thus inaugurates connections with the Arabian peninsula, a market in which the new Rome-Fiumicino – Kuwait City (1 July) and Rome flights will also soon be opened Fiumicino – Jeddah (1 August).
The opening of connections also for Accra and Dakar will bring the destinations operated in Summer 2024 to a total of 57, of which 16 national, 26 international and 15 intercontinental. Furthermore, in the summer peak the Company will fly to 12 additional seasonal destinations, selected among the most popular Mediterranean tourism destinations, including Greece, Spain, Croatia and the Italian islands, reachable with direct flights from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate.
It is possible to purchase new flights on ITA Airways sales channels, via the official website http://www.ita-airways.com, the Company’s Customer Center, travel agencies and airport ticket offices.
For press information:
Pietro Caldaroni, Head of Communication & Institutional Relations
ITA Airways is a company 100% owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance for the exercise of activities in the air transport sector. ITA’s objective is to create an efficient, innovative air carrier that becomes the point of reference in guaranteeing Italy quality connectivity both with international destinations, so as to encourage tourism and trade with foreign countries, and within the country, also taking advantage of integrated mobility. ITA Airways places the best customer service at the center of its strategy (through a strong digitalisation of processes that ensure a best in class experience and personalized services), combined with sustainability, expressed in its environmental aspect (new green and technologically advanced aircraft, use of sustainable fuels), social (equality and inclusion for a gender less company) and governance (integration of sustainability into internal strategies and processes). ITA Airways has been a SkyTeam member since October 2021.
Information on Rome Airports
Aeroporti di Roma, a Mundys Group company, manages and develops the Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino airports and carries out other activities connected and complementary to airport management. Fiumicino, the first and only airport in Italy with a 5-star Skytrax rating for excellent standards of service quality, and recognized during 2024 as the best airport in the world for airport security by Skytrax, has two passenger terminals and is dedicated to business and leisure customers on national, international and intercontinental routes; Ciampino is mainly used by low cost airlines, express couriers and general aviation activities. In 2023, Fiumicino and Ciampino airports together reached 44.4 million passengers. Over the last seven years Aeroporti di Roma has received numerous awards, recognitions and quality certificates. The main ones are certainly the AIRPORT SERVICE QUALITY AWARD, assigned by ACI World for the category of European airports with over 40 million passengers per year, obtained for the years from 2017 to 2023 for the high level of passenger satisfaction and the ‘ACI EUROPE BEST AIRPORT AWARD, category of airports with over 40 million passengers per year, for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023.
On 12 February 2024 ADR celebrated its fifty years of activity, for the occasion it presented a new logo which, visually tending upwards, symbolizes the constant commitment to excellence and innovation.
