Catania-Rome in business class on ITA: very basic but beautiful scenery

ITA’s business class on a domestic flight is really of no interest and only makes sense when connecting with an international flight. At least on this flight the view from the window was nice, but I would have had the same in economy.

It’s time to leave Sicily and fly back to Paris, on ITA Airways business class as on the outbound flight. To be honest, I’m not expecting much from this flight to Rome, apart from discovering the ITA cabin, which is gradually replacing the old Alitalia cabins, but this is a necessary evil before a Rome-Paris flight, which will be an opportunity to discover something quite special.

For the record, the air routing for this trip.

You’ll find a summary of articles about this trip to Sicily at the bottom of the page.

Ground experience

I arrive at the airport well ahead of time and under a beautiful blue sky, just to try out the lounge and give myself a safety margin, as Catania is an airport that can quickly become messy when crowded, with all that this implies in terms of waiting to pass through security checks.

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I begin, for once, with a visit to the ITA lounge, which is unfortunately landside, before the security checks.

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I leave the show a little early in anticipation of possible traffic jams at the security checkpoints, and I’m right: there’s a long queue to get through the security checkpoints, which doesn’t bode well. Fortunately, Catania isn’t a very premium destination and the priority queue is empty, allowing me to pass through in a few minutes.

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On the other hand, as you can see, “normal” passengers are going through hell.

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So here I am early, and there’s no rush at the gate.

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Boarding

The hour goes by and given the aircraft’s arrival time I’d be surprised if we boarded on time, and I’m not wrong. I show my boarding pass to an agent who opens a second queue for me, telling me that in fact the priority queue was poorly marked and that since everyone is taking it, they’re putting the real priority passengers in another one.

Of course, even if the delay is obvious as soon as the plane arrives, no announcement is made to that effect.

Italian mess, but I’m not even surprised.

Priority boarding starts 10 minutes late….which doesn’t bode well for the rest of us, especially as we’re stuck in the jetway for another 10 minutes. A real sauna! And the airport staff aren’t exactly friendly.

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At last, we can enter the cabin.

The ITA medium-haul cabin

After two flights in which I got the old Alitalia cabins in aircraft which one had an ITA livery and the other the old Alitalia livery, I can finally test the new medium-haul cabin with the ITA stamp.

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Classic 3-3 configuration, but visually very nice seats, even if I’m afraid they’ll get very dirty in the long run.

The slim seat is reminiscent of Lufthansa’s famous NEK, better known as an ironing board.

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Legroom is very decent.

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The century does not recline (now a classic) but there are no power sockets and the seat is very, very firm, even more so in my opinion than Lufthansa’s.

Unlike the old cabin, if the middle seat is locked in place, there’s no central table between the two remaining seats.

I notice that there are no safety instructions in the pouch in front of me: not very regulatory.

As for the table, it’s a very decent size.

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In any case, a very nice cabin, even if the lack of sockets is unacceptable today. The flight will be too short to get an idea of the real comfort of the seat.

The flight

Once the doors are closed, we are served a glass of water.

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The cabin lighting is very attractive.

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During the ride, we are given safety instructions and asked to put our seat back in the upright position….which does not recline.

We line up on the runway and get ready for take-off.

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We take off with a superb view of Mount Etna on the side.

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We’re even getting closer (I insist on the landscape photos because it’s the most interesting thing about this flight).

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After a long wait, the staff enter the cabin with a trolley.

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And here’s the remarkable service provided in business class on domestic flights:

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Snack without much interest and not even a real glass. It’s crazy that it took them so long to prepare such a poor service.

At one point I see either the pilot or co-pilot exit the cockpit, pull back the curtain and go to the toilet. Even with the curtain pulled, everyone can see that he’s out, no crew member blocking access, one person left alone in the cockpit. I wonder if this is regulatory.

Fortunately, we’re fast approaching Rome and we’re starting our approach.

Landing and arrival

Instead of flying over Rome and enjoying the view, the approach is over the sea, which isn’t bad either.

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It almost makes you want to go for a swim

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A few minutes later we touch down and head for our parking spot, arriving 30 minutes late.

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The staff

Presence and activity reduced to a strict minimum, as is interaction with passengers.

Bottom line

A beautiful cabin, great views on departure and arrival, and otherwise a pointless flight. Even for a domestic flight, the service is unworthy of a business class, and I’m curious to see whether Lufthansa’s takeover will be accompanied by a harmonization of services.

The articles about this trip to Sicily

#TypePost
1DiaryPlanning a trip to Sicily
2HotelCourtyard Roissy CDG (no article, already seen recently)
3LoungeExtime Lounge Roissy, Terminal 2D
4FlightParis-Milan Linate – ITA Airways Business Class. – A320
5LoungeITA Airways Lounge Milan Linate
6FlightMilan Linate-Catania – ITA Airways Business Class – A319
7HotelFour Points Catania
8DiaryVisiting Catania
9DiaryVisiting Taormina
10TrainCatania-Syracuse – Trenitalia Regionale (not reviewed)
11HotelOrtea Palace Syracuse
12RestaurantCortile Spirito Santo Syracuse
13RestaurantRegina Lucia Syracuse
14DiaryVisiting Syracuse
15TrainSyracuse Catania – Trenitalia Regionale (not reviewed)
16HotelFour Points Catania (already reviewed at the beginning of the stay)
17LoungeITA Airways lounge Catania
18FlightCatania-Rome – ITA Airways Business Class – A320Neo
19LoungeITA Airways Domestic lounge “Hangar lounge” Rome
20FlightRome-Paris CDG – ITA Airways Business Class – A321Neo
21DiaryDebriefing my vacation in Sicily
Bertrand Duperrin
Bertrand Duperrinhttp://www.duperrin.com
Compulsive traveler, present in the French #avgeek community since the late 2000s and passionate about (long) travel since his youth, Bertrand Duperrin co-founded Travel Guys with Olivier Delestre in March 2015.
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