United Airlines inaugurates new daily direct flight between Rome and San Francisco

As we anticipated here on TFC a few months ago., United Airlines inaugurated the May 26 the new seasonal direct connection between Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo da Vinci Airport and its hub in San Francisco, celebrating the departure of its first flight from Rome on this route.

United's new flight has been launched In the wake of existing daily direct flights, offered by the airline throughout the year, between Rome and Milan Malpensa and its New York/Newark hub and in addition to seasonal flights between Rome and the Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles hubs, between Milan and Chicago, and between Venice and Naples and the New York/Newark hub. United will serve more airports in Italy than any other U.S. airline by offering ten daily direct flights from Italy to the United States in the 2023 summer season. 

"We are honored to inaugurate our new service between Rome and our San Francisco hub," commented Walter Cianciusi, Country Sales Manager Italy, United Airlines. "We are proud to fly from more cities in Italy to the United States than any other airline, strengthening our global network across the Atlantic and offering our customers in Italy even more travel choices and the ability to connect through our hubs to other destinations in the Americas."

New Rome to San Francisco route confirms United's leadership among U.S. carriers on transatlantic routes. In addition to the flight from Rome to San Francisco, the 2023 summer operation includes new routes to Dubai, UAE, Malaga, Spain and Stockholm, Sweden and other popular summer destinations in Europe such as: Naples, Paris, Barcelona, London, Edinburgh, Berlin and Shannon. In addition to the launch of new flights, United also operates nine routes added in summer 2022, including direct flights between New York/Newark and Nice, Denver and Munich, Boston and London Heathrow, Chicago/O'Hare and Zurich, and Chicago/O'Hare and Milan, as well as flights to four destinations not served by any other North American airline: Amman, Jordan; Azores, Portugal; Palma de Mallorca; and Tenerife, Spain.

"We are excited to inaugurate United Airlines' direct flight to San Francisco," stated Federico Scriboni, Head of Aviation Business Development, Aeroporti di Roma. "With demand of more than 230,000 passengers in 2019, the Bay Area represents the largest market to date not directly connected to Rome. Thanks to this news, United will get to operate four destinations, reaching a record level of supply at Fiumicino Airport, which, counting on the prestigious 5-star Skytrax recognition, is set to welcome higher levels of traffic ever from North America."

United will fly to a total of 37 cities in Europe this summer, Africa and the Middle East, more destinations than all other U.S. airlines combined. The company is operating a larger international schedule of 25% than in 2022 in order to meet the unprecedented demand for international travel that has been experienced. 

United's new seasonal direct service from Rome to San Francisco is operated with Boeing 777-200 aircraft configured with a total of 276 seats: 50 fully reclining seats with direct aisle access in United Polaris business class^SM, 24 seats in premium economy United Premium Plus^SM And 202 seats in Economy, which includes 46 seats in Economy Plus^SM, with more legroom.