Hard to believe, but United Airlines has only had a presence in Italy since 1997, according to the carrier.
Now it’s beginning to put its footprint down in the European country.
United announced today it will launch new nonstop flights between its Chicago hub at O’Hare International Airport and Rome on May 16, 2015, subject to government approval. The summer-season service will operate five times a week from that date through June 3, daily from June 4 to Aug. 17, and six times a week from Aug. 18 through Sept. 23.
United will operate the flights using Boeing 777 aircraft with a total of 269 seats – eight flat-bed seats in United Global First, 40 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst and 221 seats in United Economy, including 104 Economy Plus extra-legroom seats.
“United operates more nonstop trans-Atlantic service from Chicago O’Hare than any other airline, and these new flights to Rome are a great addition to our route network,” Brian Znotins, United’s vice president of network, said in a statement. “The flights have been conveniently timed to connect at our O’Hare hub to destinations throughout the Americas, and will offer United customers additional convenient options for travel to Italy this summer.”
Flight 970 will depart Chicago at 6 p.m., arriving at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport at 10:30 a.m. the following day (all times local). On the return, flight 971 will depart Rome at 12:45 p.m., arriving in Chicago at 4:20 p.m. the same day. Schedules may vary slightly on some days. Flight times will be nine hours and 30 minutes to Italy, and 10 hours 35 minutes back to Chicago.
United recently announced it will also operate new seasonal service between its New York hub at Newark Liberty Airport and Venice from June 4 to Sept. 23, 2015. The new Rome and Venice flights will complement the airline’s existing service to Milan from its New York/Newark hub, and seasonal service to Rome from both the New York/Newark and Washington Dulles hubs.
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