64 daily flights & 62 routes: The record level US & Canada to Italy market explored

Few long-haul markets have grown as enormously as the US and Canada to Italy. In the all-important Q3 2025 (July-September), an average of 64 daily flights are planned. Service has risen from the previous record of 57 daily in Q3 2024 (+13%) and from 48 before the pandemic in 2019 (+33%).

Italy has always been very popular for vacations, and the increase was notable before the pandemic.

Nonetheless, the recent, more significant growth reflects that overall Mediterranean demand remains extremely strong (but for how long?). Extensive social media attention extolling Italy's virtues has contributed.

Italy is 'relatively' inexpensive because of the strong dollar and the US economy. This is especially so compared to the cost of domestic US travel nowadays due to inflation.

There is also cruise and religious traffic, the latter benefiting from the so-called Jubilee 2025. North Americans are exploring their ancestry in a nation renowned for food, culture, beauty, and great historical sites.

This reflects the penchant for leisure and premium leisure opportunities while benefiting from ITA Airways' relatively small size.

Unsurprisingly, the expansion is due to southern Italy. Indeed, compared to Q4 2019, flights have significantly risen to Naples (+500%, growing from daily to up to seven daily), Rome (+38%), and Sicily.

Palermo and Catania will be served for the first time. Catania will get its first-ever transatlantic flights when Delta begins them next year, while United will join Neos in Palermo.

In contrast to southern Italian cities, Milan flights have decreased (-7%), while Venice's services have risen shallowly (+8%). Meanwhile, flights to Bologna and Pisa are long gone.

Airlines hope demand will keep up with capacity growth at the required fares. They do not want yields to crash, which obviously tends to happen with such quick growth. Unsurprisingly, questions remain over whether this expansion is sustainable, underpinned by aircraft being movable assets.

As of November 15, the latest information for Q3 2025 shows that there are:

• 62 routes (New York JFK-Rome Fiumicino is first, with eight daily flights)
• 11 airlines (Delta is the largest carrier, with an average of 16 daily services)
• 17 US/Canadian airports (New York JFK is obviously first, with 25% of flights)
• Seven Italian airports (Rome Fiumicino has 59% of departures)

The following table summarizes the overall offering in order of the number of routes per airline. Any entry in bold signifies a new or returning route for the stated carrier.

There are 12 (11 new and one returning), so nearly one in five routes will be new next summer.