Alitalia Starts Rome-Tokyo Flights in July

Alitalia, the national flag carrier of Italy, announced that it will begin scheduled flight service between Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) and Tokyo International Airport (HND) on July 9. The airline had planned to commence flights on the route in March 2020 with the increase of available international flight slots at Haneda Airport. However, the impact of COVID-19 forced it to postpone the flight schedule start several times.

Following its successful trial of “COVID-Tested flights” between Rome and New York, Alitalia will introduce the scheme on flights between Rome and Tokyo. In cooperation with Aeroporti di Roma, Alitalia’s “COVID-Tested flights” are only available for passengers who test negative for COVID-19. To qualify, passengers must have carried out a rapid or molecular antigen test (RT PCR) taken via swab within 48 hours of boarding.

The first flight from Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO) departs on July 9th and the return flight departs from Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) on July 11th. The airline plans to offer a maximum of 5 flights a week per direction in its summer schedule. The airline will operate the service with A330-200 (256 seats) equipment, instead of Boeing 777-200ER(293 seats) equipment as originally planned.