ROME- ITA Airways (AZ) has officially announced the launch of new five-weekly nonstop seasonal flights from Rome (FCO), Italy to Bangkok (BKK), Thailand, starting November 16, using its newest Airbus A330neo.
Flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, departing Rome at 15:15 and arriving in Bangkok at 07:40 the next morning. Departures from Bangkok will be on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 12:15, arriving in Rome at 19:00.
ITA Airways Rome to Bangkok Flights
Behramjee Ghadially, the Senior Manager Route Network Planning has shared a great insight on this new route.
As ITA Airways transitions to a full-fledged member of Star Alliance, the new Rome-Bangkok route is strategically sound. Bangkok serves as a major Star Alliance hub in Southeast Asia.
The flight schedule from FCO connects seamlessly to ITA’s primary European destinations, ensuring strong traffic during the IATA winter season.
Additionally, future connections beyond Bangkok with Thai Airways (TG) to high-demand destinations like Manila, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Singapore, Denpasar, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Phuket, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Taipei will further boost passenger numbers.
Belly cargo is also expected to be substantial in both directions on this route. Regarding point-to-point demand between Italy and Bangkok, the post and pre-COVID figures are:
- Milan: 123K (2023) vs. 158K (2019) + 31K for Phuket
- Rome: 62K (2023) vs. 97K (2019) + 25K for Phuket
- Venice: 19K (2023) vs. 26K (2019)
- Bologna: 13K (2023) vs. 19K (2019)
Affordable Fares
Despite being the only nonstop carrier on the FCO-BKK-FCO route, ITA Airways has adopted the old Alitalia pricing strategy with extremely low fares for such a long-haul flight.
The starting fare for a round trip is €700, making it the joint second cheapest airline (tied with Etihad’s L class) after China Southern, which offers a backtracking route via CAN at €585 round trip.
For a sample itinerary (departing FCO on November 16th and returning from BKK on December 1st), ITA is offering business class tickets for €2222 round trip, which is the second cheapest after Etihad’s €1900 (Z class) for a monopoly sector.
Further, this pricing strategy suggests ITA is focusing on volume over yield for this long-haul route. At these price levels, ITA is likely to attract significant market share from competitors like Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Saudia, and Qatar Airways on the FCO-BKK-FCO route.
For the IATA Summer 2025 season, ITA should consider operating three weekly flights instead of five, dedicating one aircraft to this route. This adjustment would potentially yield higher returns and better asset utilization by deploying the second A330-900Neo on transatlantic services.
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