American announces two more routes in summer 2025 to Italy

It’s been nearly two months since American Airlines announced expected schedule cuts for summer 2025, which saw the airline introduce five new routes to Europe for next year’s peak flying season.

Now there’s more to come – and that’s good news for travelers thinking about Italy.

Late next spring, the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline will launch new direct flights to Venice and Naples, two very popular Italian vacation spots.

American will also increase the start date of two previously announced seasonal routes to Rome, adding capacity to Italy to make summer 2025 its largest flying season to the country.

Together, this new service will provide travelers with additional options to reach Naples, considered by some to be the birthplace of pizza, and Venice, with its iconic canals and world-famous hotels.

The idea for expanding services in Italy was a fairly simple one, suggested Brian Znotins, senior vice president of U.S. network and schedule planning, in an exclusive interview with TPG this week.

“Our expectations in Southern Europe continue to be exceeded,” Znotins said.

It’s not just American. The big three US airlines (American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines) will fly a staggering 54% more seats to Italy in 2024 compared to 2019, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

New American routes to Italy for 2025

American’s two new summer seasonal routes to Italy:

The addition of Chicago’s connection to Naples will give Italy’s third-largest city a second nonstop American flight—in addition to its existing service from Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, in the new Dallas, with no connections to Venice, “addition by subtraction” is taking place. American is moving its seasonal summer route to Venice from its existing Chicago origin to a major hub in Texas, Znotins said. This means that travelers from Chicago will have an easier time reaching the Amalfi Coast than the Adriatic coast.

The Italy service was previously added

In addition, American has made two changes to its existing summer flights to Italy. A planned new seasonal direct flight from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Rome’s Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO) will begin on June 5, rather than in July as previously planned.

It will do the same with its second seasonal daily nonstop flight from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to FCO.

Tickets for all these flights will be available in the American Airlines reservation system on November 4th.

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The silver lining to supply chain delays

Ironically, it was supply chain delays in the airline industry that made these new flights to Italy possible for Americans, Znotins noted.

Last week, the carrier reported a delay in plans to upgrade its four-cabin Boeing 777-300ER, the largest aircraft in its fleet.

These 20 aircraft are scheduled for an interior facelift that includes the removal of Flagship First compartments in favor of a larger overall number of premium business class seats.

But those plans are now on hold, US CEO Robert Isom said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call last week. He cited delays in deliveries from American suppliers as the reason for the delay. The first Boeing 777-300ER will likely not need repairs until the end of the summer, Isom told analysts.

“Next summer we planned to keep several 777-300 aircraft in the hangar,” Znotins added to TPG. “Because there is now a delay, these aircraft will not be in the hangar as expected.”

That means American will be able to keep more of its 304-seat planes in service next summer, freeing up the wide-body jets to ferry customers across the Atlantic during the peak summer months.

In the meantime, the plus for customers is greater service to Italy – and, of course, a slightly longer life for the Flagship First cabin.

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