March 2025. We’re embarking on a train trip to Sicily. We fly from Brussels Airport to Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport with ITA Airways. Then we take an Intercity Notte sleeper train by Trenitalia from Roma Termini Railway Station across Italy to Syracuse. Yes, the train is loaded on a ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. After visiting Syracuse, Catania and Palermo, we return to Rome, and home. With 25,832 km², Sicily is only 20% smaller than Belgium (30,689 km²). Quite a lot in four days.
For our Sicily trip we really wanted to try out the Trenitalia Intercity Notte service to Sicily, with a choice to either depart from Milan or Rome. As we only had limited time for our trip we decided to fly to and from Italy, thus elected to take the nighttrain to/from Rome as this would align better with flight schedules.
Looking for flight we spotted a very reasonable price for Business Class (€360 return) on ITA Airways. I was very pleased about the Business Class service provided by ITA Airways last time I flew the from Rome to Brussels after my Celebrity Mediterranean cruise with Sam and was curious how they evolved.
After our usual trip to the airport by train we arrived before the check-in desks where opened. Despite checking in online, as we still had bags to check we had to wait until they opened.
ITA Airways charges €29 to select seats, both in advance and during check-in even in Business Class. For our flight under 2 hours we elected not to pay for our seats and waited which seats ‘the system’ would give us.
Originally I was assigned 1F and Timothy 3D. However on the eve before our flight Timothy asked if I also received a new boarding pass and that is when I noticed my seat was changed. I received 4F and Timothy 4A. Strange, we thought as on the seat map when checking-in online we could only see 3 rows, so we assumed that the business would be so full they added an extra row (the advantage of the flexibility of Eurobusiness)
Travelling in Business Class we could use the Sky Priority line and where the first two to check-in our bags and received some proper paper boarding passes.
After our check-in we headed to the Diamond Lounge in Pier A. As from 31 march 2025 ITA Airways business class passengers can make use of the Brussels Airlines ‘The Loft’ lounge in Brussels Airport, but as we travelled on 15 march we still had to go to the Diamond Lounge.
After our visit to the lounge we headed to the gate, just in time to see our plane taxiing in. I had the impression it looked rather long for an A320 but it still only had two overwing emergency exits, so if it looks and sounds like an A320, it must be an A320.
Boarding was organised cleanly by different groups and Business Class and priority customers where invited to board first. Almost everyone in front of us had ‘bad beep’ and received a boarding pass with a different seat, very odd
Flight AZ159
From Brussels (BRU) 11:35 (11:56) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO) 13:40 (13:35)
Flight Time 1 hours 41 minutes
Airbus A321neo EI-HXE “Christian Vieri”
Delivered to ITA Airways in may 2024
Upon boarding the plane Timothy spoke to me with utter surprise “this is not the seat I was expecting” and indeed we could see long-haul style lie-flat seats in a 1-1 configuration on-board the plane. Turns out ITA Airways ‘upgraded’ our flight to one of their new A321neo’s used on longer single aisle flights like Cairo and Tel Aviv and thus equipped with a more comfortable and spacious long-haul style cabin. Featuring 1-1 lie-flat seats in Business, followed by a few 2-2 rows of premium Economy before the usual 3-3 Economy seating.
All seats are equipped with personal TV screens and on demand entertainment, the plane was also equipped with (paid) WiFi.
In the small closet at the side of our seat was the reasonable okay headset provided. It was not noise cancelling so hopefully they have better headphones on their long-haul sectors. The offer of movies and TV programs was rather meagre and not much to my liking. They did offer Bluetooth connectivity for your own headphones which is an option I’d love to see more on other carriers.
The seat obviously went fully flat but also had pre-sets for take-off and landing, relax and dining. For dining the seat slid further forward, bringing you closer to the table. The table came out of the side console upon the push of a button and could be slid forward and backwards.
In the side console there was a closet useful to store some items and this is also where you could find the headphones. The seat also had USB-A charging, 60 watts USB-C charging and a proper 110v outlet.
There was not a ton of storage at the seat itself, but as it was the Airbus Airspace cabin there was plenty of space in the overhead bins.
Boarding was rather slow and departure delayed as due to the last-minute plane change they had 90 seat changes which of course takes time. In Business class we were served a pre-departure beverage (a rarity in intra-European Business Class) to kill the time, with a choice of orange juice or water.
Take off was exceptionally from 07R and we had quite a choppy climb-out. The entire flight the seatbelt sign didn’t get turned off.
There was no separate aperitif service and the purser immediately came around asking if we wanted to eat and what we would like to drink, bringing the trays one by one straight from the galley without a cart.
The meal consisted of a Caesar salad with a generous serving of cheese and chicken, the main was a warm margarita pizza and for the dessert a typical Sicilian pistachio cannoli. On the tray was also a hot bun, butter, olive oil and pepper and salt. The metal cutlery still contained the engraving of Alitalia.
To drink I had an Aperol Spritz (when in Italy…) and some water. They handed bottles of both.
After the meal we were asked if we wanted a coffee and if we would like some limoncello or grappa. Of course I obliged with a delicious cup of limoncello on ice. They finished of the service with a crunchy chocolate. The sad thing was they used plastic cups for most drinks instead of a proper glass, using proper glasses would make for a more upscale experience.
After landing the plane docked at the International E-gates Satellite, meaning we had a bus transfer to the arrivals despite being docked at a jetway. Remarkably as soon as the entire Business Class was disembarked the bus left with only the Business Class passengers and thus we had a very swift arrival to baggage claim.
We of course very much enjoyed this (short) flight in a proper Business Class cabin with the comfort of a fully reclining seat and a personal entertainment screen.
The ITA airways Business Class service with a hot meal was also good for a short European flight as you often only get served a cold meal on this flight length.
The price-quality ratio for this flight was excellent and I wouldn’t hesitate to book them again for this value for money. Hopefully the integration into the Lufthansa Group doesn’t make them cut down on service too much and they can keep their unique identity.
Trip By Trip 
20 Comments Add yours