Review: ITA Airways Business Class Airbus A321neo (FCO-CAI)

Paris, With Some Cairo Drama

More from this series:

• Introduction: Paris, With Some Cairo Drama
• Review: Emirates Business Class Airbus A380 (JFK-MXP)
• Review: La Reserve Paris (Stunning French Palace Hotel)
• Review: Le Bristol Paris, Oetker Collection (French Palace Hotel)
• Review: Moxy Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG)
• Review: ITA Airways Business Class Airbus A320neo (CDG-FCO)
• Review: ITA Airways Business Class Airbus A321neo (FCO-CAI)

OMG, ITA AIRWAYS’ A321NEO BUSINESS CLASS IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, AND THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST FLIGHTS I’VE EVER TAKEN. A FIVE STAR RATING DOESN’T DO JUSTICE TO THIS EXPERIENCE.

Okay, sorry for all those caps, but I feel like any other introduction wouldn’t do justice to this flight. During my quick trip to Paris and Cairo, I flew ITA Airways’ Airbus A321neo business class on the short 2hr50min afternoon flight from Rome (FCO) to Cairo (CAI). I’ve gotta be honest, I had high expectations going into this flight, but even those expectations were exceeded.

Where do we even begin? For one, ITA Airways’ A321neo might be the swankiest narrow body jet operated by any global airline, and really puts even other quality airlines to shame. But even more than that, the soft product was mind-bogglingly good. I’ve never had this level of service on a sub-three hour flight on any airline in any cabin. Period.

Now, in fairness, let me explain what’s going on. ITA Airways primarily flies its A321neos to the Middle East and Africa, on flights in the range of five to seven hours. However, the airline offers an identical experience to Cairo, even though that flight is only about half as long.

I’d almost say that I should just spend my life flying back and forth between Rome and Cairo to enjoy this, but unfortunately Egypt isn’t too happy with me, so I guess that’s not happening.

How I booked my ITA Airways business class ticket

I booked a ticket on ITA Airways from Paris to Rome to Cairo in business class, and paid with cash. Specifically, I booked the following for $907.09 (and then I also paid an extra $107 to assign the front row business class seat on the Paris to Cairo flight):

11/10 AZ317 Paris to Rome departing 6:10AM arriving 8:10AM
11/10 AZ896 Rome to Cairo departing 12:40PM arriving 4:55PM

I actually paid more for this ticket than I had to, as there was a less flexible ticket that would’ve been $200 cheaper. The reason I booked this is because there was an Amex Offers deal for 17,500 bonus Membership Rewards points when spending $1,000 with the airline, and this ticket plus the seat assignment fee triggered that.

ITA Airways business class lounge & boarding

After flying ITA Airways’ A320neo business class from Paris, I had a lengthy layover at Rome Fiumicino Airport, which I spent at the ITA Airways Piazza di Spagna Lounge. I reviewed this a couple of years ago, and nothing has changed, so I won’t be covering it again.

Boarding for my flight to Cairo was scheduled for 11:40AM, an hour before departure. The flight was boarding from gate E7, which is actually a remote stand. The flight wasn’t supposed to board from a remote stand, but there was a last minute aircraft swap, so that’s the reason. Due to this swap, boarding was delayed a bit, and ended up starting at 12PM.

I sort of appreciated the opportunity to depart from a remote stand, since it meant getting up close to the exterior of the plane. How gorgeous is ITA Airways’ livery?!? As much as I’m a fan, that pales in comparison to what was waiting for me inside the aircraft.

ITA Airways A321neo business class cabin & seats

We’re increasingly seeing airlines introduce flat beds on narrow body jets, as these aircraft fly longer and more premium routes. However, it feels like a lot of airlines are making a compromise when it comes to hard product on these jets, compared to what passengers have come to expect on larger aircraft. Well, that’s not the case on ITA Airways’ A321neos.

ITA Airways’ A321neo business class consists of 12 reverse herringbone seats, spread across six rows, in a 1-1 configuration. What a nice contrast to all the airlines offering herringbone seats (facing the aisle) on these kinds of jets. ITA Airways is the narrow body launch customer for the STELIA Aerospace OPERA seating platform. Air France also has a customized version of this product on some A350s.

Before we even talk more about business class, let me note that the aircraft also has 12 premium economy seats, spread across three rows, in a 2-2 configuration. This is arguably even better than the premium economy seats you’ll find on most wide body aircraft.

Then economy has 141 seats, spread across 24 rows, in a 3-3 configuration. Even that looked comparable to what you’d find on a wide body jet.

Anyway, back to the business class cabin… I thought these seats compared very favorably even to reverse herringbone seats on wide body aircraft. For example, below is a picture of seat 2A — just look at the amount of legroom, as there’s no small footwell that you have to squeeze your feet into.

But it gets even better than that — the first row of the cabin is a “business class plus” product of sorts, and features way more room. I paid an extra $107 to assign seat 1A, as I was curious to check this out.

Seriously, take a look at the amount of legroom, and the size of that ottoman!

As far as other seat features go, the tray table at this seat extends from underneath the side console, and is a single, large surface.

On top of the console is an area with a reading light, the entertainment controller, an exposed storage area, and an enclosed storage space.

I had never seen something like the enclosed storage area before, and thought it was kind of cool. It swiveled open, and also has a little mirror.

The seat also has plenty of charging options — there are USB-A and USB-C outlets right near the storage console, and an AC power outlet underneath the side table.

The overhead bins were Airbus’ new larger Airspace bans. While the overhead console had a reading light, unfortunately it didn’t have any individual air nozzles.

ITA Airways deserves massive credit for its A321neo business class hard product. While the airline doesn’t have doors at these seats, I love the fact that these are reverse herringbone seats, rather than herringbone seats. Not only that, but they’re more spacious reverse herringbone seats than you’ll find on most wide body planes.

ITA Airways business class amenities

Despite this being a short 2hr50min daytime flight, the amenities were what you’d expect on a long haul flight. There’s simply not another airline in the world I can think of that offers amenities like this on a flight that’s so short.

For one, there was a menu and wine list waiting at each seat upon boarding.

Then there was bedding, including a comfortable pillow and a substantial blanket.

There was an amenity kit, with socks, eyeshades, a dental kit, and earplugs.

There were even (really flimsy) slippers.

Then there were decent quality noise canceling headphones.

There was also bottled water.

When boarding finished up, pre-departure drinks were served in proper glassware, with the choice of prosecco, orange juice, or water. I selected the prosecco, and loved the glass it was served in.

Warm towels were also distributed.

What an absolute treat to get these kinds of amenities on a flight of this length!

ITA Airways A321neo business class entertainment & Wi-Fi

ITA Airways offers audio and video on demand in business class on its A321neos, with 17.3″ entertainment screens.

The selection was solid — not among the best in the world, but it shouldn’t be hard to stay entertained. There were nearly 200 movies, and dozens of TV shows, along with music and games.

ITA Airways also offers bluetooth audio on its A321neos, allowing you to connect your own headphones to the inflight entertainment.

My only criticism of the inflight entertainment is that the map feature wasn’t working. This seems to be an ongoing issue at the airline, as I’ve seen similar reports from others. Hopefully this is something the airline eventually gets fixed.

ITA Airways also offers Wi-Fi on its A321neos, though this is an area where the airline could improve. The airline partners with OnAir, which offers among the slowest connectivity of any airline. Not only that, but the pricing is on the high side. There are several pricing plans available:

• There’s a free messaging pass, though it’s limited to 30 minutes
• There’s a full flight messaging pass for $7
• There’s a two hour browsing and streaming pass for $19
• There’s a full flight browsing and streaming pass for $33

Interestingly, the full flight pass has data limits of 750MB, while the two hour pass has no data limits, so many may prefer the latter, and that’s what I got. Unfortunately I found the speeds to be quite slow, so this wasn’t useful for much more than messaging without pictures.

ITA Airways A321neo departure from Rome

The boarding process was efficient, and at 12:40PM, the main cabin door closed, with the business class cabin only half full (premium economy was similarly around half full, while economy was quite occupied). At that point the first officer made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 2hr50min, and our anticipated on-time arrival in Cairo.

At 12:45PM we began our pushback, at which point the safety video was immediately screened. Then at 12:50PM we began our taxi, and at 1PM we were cleared for takeoff from runway 16R.

We had a quick takeoff roll, and I loved the views on the climb out, as it was a clear and sunny day.

Despite a smooth ride, the seatbelt sign stayed on for around 15 minutes, at which point the crew sprung into action.

ITA Airways business class meal service

Once airborne, it was showtime for the crew, in a way I’ve never quite seen before on a flight of this length. You can find the ITA Airways business class menu below.

You can find the ITA Airways business class drink list below.

Meal orders were taken around 25 minutes after takeoff, and service started shortly after that. Service began with an aperitif, and I decided to order an aperol spritz, which was served with a side of mixed nuts and dried fruit. It’s not often you get a cocktail like this on a plane, so I was impressed!

At that point, the table was set for the flight. ITA Airways offers a restaurant style dining experience, where everything is served directly onto the tablecloth, rather than using trays. Once my table was set, I was offered a side of fruit, some bread, and the starter. There were two choices, and I selected the cod, cabbage, and almonds, with Sicilian broccoli florets, purple cauliflower, broccoli, and olives. It was absolutely delicious.

To drink, I switched to a Stern Sauvignon Doc Kaltern, which I enjoyed.

Next up was the pasta course, where I selected the tomato maccheroncelli in basil sauce with sweet yellow and red Datterini tomatoes, and San Marzano tomatoes. Yum, yum, yum.

Since this is an Italian airline, there were of course two main courses. For the second, I selected the vegetarian mushroom goulash and “canederli,” comprised of sautéed mushrooms cooked with onion, parsley, and garlic, with pan-fried bread dumplings. Once again, I really enjoyed this.

Then it was time for the cheese course, which included a selection of three cheese. At the recommendation of the flight attendant, I complemented that with some Passito (Italian dessert wine).

Last but certainly not least was dessert, which was a buckwheat sablé with Verbena-infused panna cotta and berry coulis. I had a cappuccino to go along with that.

This meal was incredibly delicious, and outrageously indulgent. But I figured that if I’m going to take the most impressive sub-three hour flight of my life, I’m going all-in! Wow, wow, wow, I just can’t get over the fact that ITA Airways has its full long haul business class service on such a short flight.

ITA Airways A321neo business class lavatory

ITA Airways has a dedicated business class lavatory at the front of the cabin, which I checked out after the meal. It was modern and a decent size for a narrow body, but not really remarkable in any other way. There were no special amenities.

ITA Airways A321neo business class bed

Unfortunately the service in business class was so extensive that there wasn’t much time to rest. Still, though, I figured I had to try out the bed, so after the meal I reclined the seat, and I managed to get in about a 30 minute nap before it was time for the cabin to be prepared for landing. I found the seat to be really comfortable and spacious for resting.

ITA Airways business class service

Service in ITA Airways business class was stellar. There were two ladies working business class, and they both couldn’t have been more professional. They were charming, attentive, and had an eye for detail.

It’s so strange, because I’ve flown ITA Airways a handful of times now, and I’ve pretty consistently had awesome service. That wasn’t my experience with Alitalia back in the day, so I’m not sure what changed, but I’m loving it.

ITA Airways A321neo arrival in Cairo

At around 4:25PM Cairo time, the first officer was on the PA to announce that we’d be landing in around 30 minutes. Moments later, we started our descent. At this point the crew distributed landing forms for Egypt, plus some candy.

The seatbelt sign was turned on at around 4:40PM. I enjoyed the views out the window as we approached Cairo… little did I know that it might be my last-ever approach to the airport.

We touched down at Cairo Airport at 4:50PM, with one of the smoothest touchdowns in recent memory. From there, we had a roughly 10 minute taxi to the gate, where we pulled in at 5PM, five minutes behind schedule.

I bid farewell to the crew, and headed over to the Le Meridien Cairo Airport, where I’d be spending a few hours, before my early morning flight to Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines.

Bottom line

ITA Airways’ A321neo business class is incredible beyond belief, especially on this short flight from Rome to Cairo. For one, the hard product is exceptional, with the best narrow body business class product I’ve experienced to date. I love that there are reverse herringbone seats, and the front row seats offer an unbelievable amount of space.

But even more impressive than the hard product was the soft product. ITA Airways offers the full long haul experience on this short flight to Cairo, so to get this level of food, drinks, and amenities, is pretty unrivaled. Add in the great service, and ITA Airways is quickly becoming one of my favorite airlines out there (and certainly one of my top airlines in Europe).

What do you make of ITA Airways’ A321neo business class?