Air Arabia lands at Fiumicino: Rome again has a low-cost flight to Emirates and Maldives (but also Thailand)

It fell on January 13, 2025, when. Wizz Air operated the last flight between Fiumicino and Abu Dhabi., as part of the dismantling of its hub in the UAE capital. For Rome, the low-cost connection not only to the Gulf, but also to other destinations in the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent, where Wizz served a destination with strong demand from Italy as the Maldives.

A year and a half later, that kind of connection will return to Rome thanks to Air Arabia, announced plans to double its presence in the Italian market by adding a daily flight to Fiumicino from its hub in Sharjah, which is a half-hour drive north of Dubai, to its connection to Bergamo Orio al Serio.

The flight will be operated from July 1 by Airbus A320neo, at different times depending on the day of the week. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, there will be an 8:15 a.m. departure from Sharjah to arrive at 12:55 p.m. in Rome, from where takeoff is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. with arrival in the Emirates at 8:50 p.m. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, takeoff from Sharjah will be at 4:10 p.m. with arrival in Rome at 8:50 p.m., while from Italy's largest airport it will depart at 10 p.m. with an overnight flight arriving in the Gulf at 5:45 a.m. the next morning.

The new connection can already be booked On the website of the Emirates carrier. For those who then plan to continue their journey to the Maldives, the most convenient flight is one that leaves the Italian capital in the late evening and arrives in Sharjah at dawn the next day, given that the low-cost carrier has two daily flights from its hub to Malé, one of which leaves at 7:50 a.m. (to land in the Maldives at 1:20 p.m.).

In the reverse direction it will take off from Malé at 9:10 a.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to arrive in Sharjah at 12:30 p.m. and then continue to Fiumicino on a 4:10 p.m. flight that lands in Rome at 8:50 p.m.

But Air Arabia's 'plus' over Wizz Air is that its network goes far beyond the Maldives and extends to another destination in high demand in the Italian market: Thailand, where the low-cost Emirates carrier serves from Sharjah with daily flights Bangkok, Phuket and Krabi with connections that are suitable for the arrival of flights from Rome.

Obviously, speaking of connections to Thailand, flying with Air Arabia (rather than legacy airlines between the two countries) means 'shooting up' a dozen hours total on narrow-body aircraft, since thehe low-cost Emirates carrier has a fleet consisting exclusively of Airbus A320s and A321s, both in versions ceo, both neo.

There is no Inflight Entertainment (IFE) system on board, but there is the free SkyTime media streaming service. There is no wifi, though. Food and drinks are paid for by choosing from the SkyCafé in-flight menu. And, which is rare for low-cost airlines, Air Arabia also has its own loyalty program, which is called Air Rewards.