ITA’s A321Neo certainly offers the best hard product to be found on a medium-haul aircraft in Europe, even if the service is once again a little disappointing.

It really was the flight I was looking forward to most on this trip. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it justified the trip on its own, but I’d been wanting to try out ITA’s A321 Neo for a long time, and I jumped at the chance when I saw that I could select it for my return flight.

Why this interest? The A321Neo is an aircraft which can be used for long-haul transatlantic flights, and which airlines therefore operate with cabins adapted to this type of flight. SAS and TAP, for example, use 321LRs (a variant of the Neo) (test here and here), while KLM reserves them for medium-haul flights.

But ITA has gone much further than the others in fitting out its cabin, and that, as you will see, is the whole point of this flight.

And sometimes, for operational reasons, these aircraft are assigned to medium-haul flights, as is the case here.

As a reminder the air routing of this trip.

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

Ground experience

I get off the flight from Catania and it’s a long walk to the ITA Hangar Lounge at the other end of the terminal.

Anticipating another long walk through the terminal to reach my boarding gate, I leave the lounge a little early…

And here I am at the boarding gate a few minutes before it starts.

Boarding

The aircraft is already here, which leads me to believe that we’ll be leaving on time.

The queues are well marked out, and for once everyone waits quietly in their seats for boarding to begin.

Finally boarding is announced, priority passengers board first and it’s all very smooth sailing. I’m on the plane in no time.

The cabin of ITA’s A321Neo

The aircraft, which is to operate transatlantic flights, ITA has opted for a 1-1 business class, whereas SAS and TAP, for example, alternate between 2-2 and 1-1 rows.

So true “full access” and “full privacy”. The seats in row 1 are even bigger than the others, which will enable me to travel in this very pleasant space.

The color scheme is the same blue and off-white combination I had on the A320 coming from Catania.

Legroom is more than appreciable.

The remote control, reading light and seat controls are all within easy reach.

Closed storage space with metal door.

Headphone and USB sockets are easily accessible.

The screen is a good size.

The table is a very good size.

The seat can, of course, be converted into a flat bed.

Truly a beautiful seat that I can’t stop photographing from every angle.

I think the pictures speak for themselves: it’s really a superb product, unique in Europe on this type of aircraft, and even above Turkish Airlines.

Too bad the flight only lasts 1h40.

The flight

Boarding goes smoothly, except for one detail: the eyes of the economy passengers who walk through the business class and don’t expect to see this.

I can see that there’s a premium economy behind it, but I think it’s either sold as an economy or reserved for elite members of the loyalty program.

A bottle of fresh water is brought at the end of boarding and the captain makes an announcement. In English and Italian, but given the accent he’s French.

We take off and I make myself comfortable while waiting for the meal to be served.

Meal trays are brought out after a few minutes: bad luck, it’s another cold meal. ITA offers hot meals in medium-haul business class, even on short flights, but only at mealtimes. I had the choice between flying at a time when they serve hot meals or testing this cabin: I chose the cabin.

From the looks of it, I’m only moderately inspired.

The artichoke, tomato and cheese salad is good and hearty.

Then the sandwiches (shrimp with sauce, hummus, sun-dried tomato and ham) were surprisingly fresh and good. It didn’t feel at all like it had just come out of the freezer, as is all too often the case.

The almond cake for dessert will be fine.

Don’t put words in my mouth: it’s much better than I expected, but the quality is well below what Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss or even TAP are offering!

Then I’ll put the seat in the bed position just to give it a try.

With my 1m88 I only have 5 to 10cm of margin in the reclined position. It’s hard to do better on an A321, and in any case it’s better than Thai’s long-haul planes!

There won’t be a second round of drinks: as on my previous flights, the staff do the bare minimum and disappear.

All good things must come to an end, and we must prepare ourselves for the landing.

The service

Quite smiling, but minimalist and not very friendly. Very little interaction between passengers and crew.

Landing and arrival

After a bumpy descent we arrive at terminal 2D where we disembark on time.

Bottom line

An excellent quality hard product, unique in Europe, but below-average service and catering.

The articles about this trip to Sicily

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