ITA Airways, the national airline of Italy, has just unveiled its newest transatlantic route, launching in the spring of 2026. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given bigger developments at the airline.
ITA Airways will fly from Rome to Houston as of 2026
As of May 1, 2026, ITA Airways will launch flights between Rome (FCO) and Houston (IAH). The service will initially operate 3x weekly, before operating 5x weekly as of June 1, 2026. The service will operate with the following schedule:
AZ636 Rome to Houston departing 10:20AM arriving 3:40PM
AZ637 Houston to Rome departing 6:10PM arriving 11:50AM (+1 day)
The 5,682-mile flight is blocked at 12hr20min westbound and 10hr40min eastbound. ITA Airways will use an Airbus A330-900neo for the service, featuring 291 seats. That includes 30 business class seats, 24 premium economy seats, and 237 economy seats. Personally I’m a big fan of ITA Airways’ business class, and think it’s among the best experiences across the Atlantic.
Houston will be ITA Airways’ eighth destination in the United States, after Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), and Washington (IAD).
This coincides with ITA Airways transitioning to Star Alliance
Keep in mind that historically, ITA Airways (and predecessor Alitalia) belonged to the SkyTeam alliance. However, Lufthansa Group has invested in ITA, and this has caused the Italian carrier to modify its strategy.
ITA Airways has now left SkyTeam, and plans to join Star Alliance in the near future. The long term goal is for ITA Airways to even join the Star Alliance transatlantic joint venture, which otherwise includes United, Air Canada, Lufthansa, SWISS, etc.
With that in mind, the Houston route makes perfect sense. Not only is Houston a huge market as such, but it’s also a mega-hub for United, so there will be lots of connectivity opportunities. This will be a great, efficient, one-stop option for getting between many parts of the United States and Rome. Houston is also one of the only hubs out of which United doesn’t fly to Rome, so ITA won’t even have any direct competition in the market.
Here’s how ITA Airways CEO Joerg Eberhart describes this new route:
“We are proud to announce that for the first time in history Rome and Houston will be connected with a direct flight. This is our ninth North American destination and will further enrich the airline’s intercontinental network, one of ITA Airways’ key assets: long-haul operations not only support profitability but also stimulate short-haul traffic, strengthening the Rome Fiumicino hub.”
“With this new route, we consolidate our expansion in the U.S. market, our most important international market. The extensive offer from Rome allows us to be the reference carrier from the U.S. to Italy and, via Rome, to Europe and the Mediterranean for the Italian community and other major communities in the region. The new destination is also part of a broader international growth strategy, culminating in ITA Airways joining the Star Alliance in 2026, within the integration process into the Lufthansa Group.”
Bottom line
ITA Airways will add a new route between Rome and Houston as of the spring of 2026, with an Airbus A330-900neo. This is a logical addition to ITA’s network, when you consider that the airline is in the process of joining the Star Alliance, and hopefully, the Star Alliance transatlantic joint venture.
Houston is a massive hub for United, and it’s also one of the only hubs out of which United doesn’t serve Rome, so this seems like a logical market to add.
What do you make of ITA Airways’ plans to fly to Houston?
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