ITA Airways Milan Linate lounge review. Lounge ok, but buffet to improve

There are not many official ITA Airways lounges., not that there were more before with Alitalia. Net of upcoming openings, the ones in Italy open right now are 2: Piazza di Spagna at T3 in Rome Fiumicino and Piazza della Scala in Milan Linate.

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We reviewed the first one in January, just days after reopening. Today it is the turn of the Milan Linate lounge, the second largest.

Location

Again it is a former Alitalia House. Unlike what happens with airplanes, the new Italian flag carrier has decided not to change the name of its lounges thus keeping the old AZ designations. It is located on the second floor of the terminal, directly opposite at Leonardo Hall, the independent lounge operated by SEA .

Access

To enter you must have a premium elite status or higher at Flying loyalty program o travel business class. Unfortunately, however, you still cannot access instead if you fly with other Skyteam carriers. I asked this specific question to the receptionists and they confirmed that. No access to this lounge unless you fly ITA Airways. Yet another confirmation that membership in the SkyTeam alliance Is anything but at full capacity.

The lounge

For those who are old Winged Arrow will feel like coming home. Sure, now the lobby is all blue and gone are the silk screens with AZ logos from the windows, but everything else is as before: decor, room layout, buffet location.

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Basically, a coat of paint was given to the entrance and plaques were hung on the walls with ITA's logo.

It is an open space, with dividing bulkheads that were there before covid-19. Mainly the seats are sofas, not very comfortable for eating.

Toward the bar counter, there is a small area with small tables and stations that are more suitable if you need to work on a PC.

The plus of the room is definitely the view of the runway and airport bridges. Lots of natural light and a beautiful view where you can observe the movements of aircraft and operational vehicles.

Food & Beverage

Let's say we are on the borderline of sufficiency, or maybe something less. We are talking about a Official lounge not of an independent contracted lounge. The breakfast buffet is aesthetically nice, but the content is really small.

As per Fiumicino, has been maintained the island with food, but you are served by the hall staff. There are many types of croissants, but in fact not a single one with chocolate or jam.

There is no hot offering and the only savory dish present was sliced turkey, really too little. I do not compare this lounge to what is offered by other premium airlines, but it is inferior even to many independent halls in airports such as Barcelona.

British Airways lounge also., on the ground floor of Linate, Has a breakfast menu where there is always at least one hot offering such as omelets, scrambled eggs or other savory breakfast dishes, in addition to the continental breakfast.

At least the bartender was retained and real coffees and cappuccinos are served. From a premium company, however, a premium experience is to be expected.

N.B. Even in the Rome lounge, where I stopped by at lunchtime, no hot dishes are offered, a service decidedly lower than the Premium Plaza and the Star Alliance lounge.

Services

There was nothing before, now there is even less.

In the sense that before, at least the lounge offered wi-fi (Casa Alitalia's signal is still on), but today we refer to the one at the airport or, if it gets a signal, we can connect to the one at the nearby lounge.

In conclusion

ITA's lounges have been reopened since February, it would be logical to expect service now broken in at 100% and an offering at least appropriate for a premium airline. Instead we still seem to be in a middle ground, and that's not good as we approach the first "high season" of the new Italian flag carrier.

This is just one of many reviews you can read on our site, covid and restrictions permitting. Every Wednesday we publish a review of a lounge airport, while every Friday you can read the review of one of our flights or a hotel where we stayed.

• ITA Airways lounge
• Flying

The verdict

The hall is the old Alitalia home, everything is as it was except for a coat of blue paint and a few logos hanging around. The location is suitable for the intra-EU traffic at the Milan airport, however from a company that aims to be premium there is a noticeable difference between what British Airways offers its passengers on the ground floor of Linate and what ITA offers in this lounge.

6

Rated Location

7

F&B

5

Services

6

Pro

• The view of the runway

Against

• the wifi is that of the airport
• Risque gastronomic proposal