Examined: The attraction of secondary markets in Italy for US-based airlines

For the upcoming summer season, all three major US airlines, namely American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines have announced new routes and/or frequency increases on flights to Italy.

This included the country’s main gateways, Rome Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO) and Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), as well as secondary Italian cities that have become tourist hot spots, such as Napoli, served by Naples International Airport (NAP).

Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that during the summer months in 2024 – from June to August – the three airlines scheduled an average of 244 weekly flights, resulting in an average of 62,601 weekly seats during the three-month period.

However, the trio of US carriers only scheduled flights to four airports. In addition to the Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Malpensa, flights were available to Naples International and Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE).

In comparison, during the same three-month period in 2025, US airlines have scheduled an additional 49 weekly flights and 10,986 weekly seats, on average, on flights to Italy.

Two new airports will receive direct connections from the US: Vincenzo Bellini Catania Airport (CTA) and Palermo Falcone Borsellino Airport (PMO), two airports in Sicily, an island south of the Italian Peninsula.

Crucially to the two airlines that have launched services to Palermo and Catania, Sicily has been growing as a tourist market. Data from Eurostat, the official statistics portal of the European Commission (EC), showed that between 2020 and 2023, the number of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments grew from 6.6 million to 16.4 million.

As a result, Sicily became the 11th busiest region for tourism in Italy, trailing such places as Veneto (71.8 million nights spent) or Toscana (46.01 million).

In addition, two more US airports will have direct connections operated by a US-based airline to Italy: Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and Miami International Airport (MIA) with flights to Rome-Fiumicino.

ITA Airways has been flying from Miami International to the Italian capital since at least March 2022. Before the pandemic, the route was operated by American Airlines, Air Italy, and Alitalia, whose ashes were used to raise the phoenix that is ITA Airways.

In general, apart from the three major US airlines, ITA Airways, La Compagnie, Emirates (fifth-freedom flight from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) via Milan-Malpensa) and Norse Atlantic Airways will fly between Italy and the US in summer 2025.

American Airlines’ four new routes to Italy

On November 1, American Airlines announced that from May 2025, it will increase flights to Rome, Naples, and Venice. By that time, it was clear that the carrier would be the only one out of the trio not to introduce services to any new airports in Italy.

Still, it will launch four new routes: from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to Naples, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Venice, Miami to Rome, and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to Rome.

“American will operate flights from FCO to more destinations in the United States than any other U.S. airline, giving customers the flexibility to choose a schedule that gets them where they want to go when they want to go.”

Delta’s experiment in Catania

Similarly to American, Delta has also increased frequencies and added new routes to Italy, which includes the four following itineraries:

The airline’s route announcements came on September 20th, with Joe Esposito, the senior vice president of network planning of Delta, saying that with over 700 weekly flights to 33 European destinations and beyond, the carrier is expanding access to cities like Barcelona and Dublin with new routes, while introducing its first-ever non-stop service to Catania, Sicily.

“Alongside the rollout of free international Wi-Fi and increased premium seating across our fleet, we’re ensuring our customers enjoy the best in connectivity and comfort from the moment they arrive at the airport to when they touch down.”

The highlight of the announcement was Catania, which had not been served directly by any US airline beforehand. Delta said that it was going to fly this long-unserved market and provide access to Sicily’s rich heritage and breathtaking landscapes.

However, Delta has only increased frequencies on a single route, adding three weekly flights from Atlanta (ATL) to Rome-Fiumicino from July to October.

United Airlines connection in Palermo

While United's international schedule in the summer of 2025 included several highlights, including Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the carrier’s Italian network will largely stay the same.

The only two changes are new routes, including the second Sicilian airport to receive direct services to the US, Palermo. United will fly from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Palermo Falcone Borsellino Airport (PMO) three times per week during the summer season. Meanwhile, the airline will also fly from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Venice, with the seasonal route being operated daily.

United Airlines will remain the only US airline to directly serve Italy from the West Coast of the country. The aforementioned ITA Airways and Norse Atlantic are set to serve Rome from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), with the latter airline flying only from Los Angeles to Italy.