Review of ITA Airways flight from Tunis to Rome in Business

Hello everyone

To find out why and how, I suggest you refer to the first flight of this routing.

THE MOVENPICK

After last night's pre-routing flight, and having spent some quality time at the Movenpick in Gammarth, we had a lovely room with good bedding.

fabulous breakfast

facing the sea

swimming in the pool and a dip in the sea

We checked out just before 3 p.m. (one of the advantages of being part of Accor).
A few moments later, the hotel driver takes us back to the airport free of charge. (Thanks to Fatma)

tunis airport

In dense, epic traffic, we arrived at the airport 30 minutes later.

As we get out of the car, a guy comes along with a cart, our driver talks to him a little curtly, and the guy turns back.

It's a bit crowded outside, as there's a baggage check at the entrance.

Even though the first FIDS is in Arabic, we easily find the counter.

The FIDS

Same check-in counter for ITA and AF/KLM

The hostess starts checking in, and after a few minutes tells us there's a problem and leaves her seat.

She comes back a few minutes later (by which time we're well intoxicated by the smell of cigarettes throughout the airport, and especially next to the check-in counter), tells us everything's ok, and finishes checking in (I think it was the final destination, LAX, that caused the problem).

Normally we'll find the suitcases and stroller directly at LAX.

I ask her if there's a fast track, and she's very evasive

It's looking good for the moment without the fast track (work is scheduled).

Once through the gate, we run into the PAF (impossible to take photos), and off we go for over 25 minutes of queuing, knowing that we were in the diplomatic corps section, dedicated at this time of day to families with small children. For some PAXs, it took almost 5 minutes to get the stamp.

The PIF was quick (the bottleneck being the PAF), with agents requiring all PAX to remove their shoes, a vintage sequence.

THE SALON

Here we are in front of the lounge

The partner airlines

The show was packed, and we had a little trouble finding a space with 3 seats.

The cold buffet

Hot buffet

Desserts

Big disappointment, the presentation is not very qualitative, but above all the products are very average (to remain soft in my words).

With the exception of water, all other drinks require a visit to the bar, which is often deserted by the barman.

The lounge is on the whole dirty, the seats are worn out and safety standards (at least in terms of electricity) have been somewhat forgotten.

Toilets: only 1 for men and 1 for women, for a lounge with over 100 seats, that's very few, too few.
I won't post a photo, to avoid disgusting you.

I forgot, the WIFI wasn't working.

Not much to spot from the lounge

The next flights

We leave the lounge as soon as boarding is indicated; I don't know the amount of the fee paid by the airlines for each passenger passing through the lounge, but whatever the price, it's too expensive.

boarding

Along the way, we come across a piano that seems quite lonely, and given the configuration of the place, the acoustics can't be too good.

Note the wheeled suitcase: the return journey

We arrive at gate 57, which used to be gate 56, but nothing to worry about.

A single line, but if you're traveling in Business, you have to say so, and we pass in front of everyone else.

Here's our plane, what a beautiful color

It looks new, but it's already got a bit of a history

With its old livery

Our neighbor

We're well and truly in Tunis

Instant PS and door

Fuselage shot

Our seats
It smells lived

The pitch is very good for a medium-haul aircraft

Cargo loading still in progress and a friend as neighbor now

The safety notice

The seats are by Recaro

I ask the stewardess where the electrical outlet or USB socket is, and she replies with a smile that nothing of the kind is available. It's appalling in 2024 not to offer a recharging system, but let's face it, if ITA comes under the control of the LH Group, there'll be no need to upgrade!

The interior window is greasy (I'd have cleaned it up like Saintpiev, but there's nothing to clean it with).
For the photos, I had to aim between the interior grease and the exterior scratches.

Okay, with the sun it doesn't show too much, but I was in keeping with the livery of our steed

A bottle of water is offered (still or sparkling)
But no oshibori or disinfectant towel

A touch of modernism: a touch screen is available for the purser to set certain parameters.

THE FLIGHT

Push with 15 minutes advance

Short taxi to the runway

Re-entry on the runway far from the threshold, but despite this, fresh tire tracks left by a landing are clearly visible.

Acceleration and take-off

we're being followed

We fly over the suburbs of Tunis

I love this blue

We soon reach the cloud layer

About 20 minutes after takeoff, the meal tray is served.

The little one will receive exactly the same, and you can doubt the result: she won't eat a thing.

It doesn't really look premium

My choice of drinks to accompany the meal

Coming back to the platter, the salad was correct, as were the sandwiches.
On the other hand, there was no indication of the composition of the sandwiches. Fortunately, I tasted first, because one of the sandwiches had shrimp hidden inside, and my wife is allergic to shrimp.

At the end of the meal, we were offered chocolate.

Start of descent less than an hour after takeoff

The coasts are in sight

What a difference vegetation makes, give or take 600 kilometers!

Soft landing

But followed by very violent braking, to take the first exit ramp at reasonable speed.

Sunset while taxiing

An ITA heading for the runway

Small traffic jam to reach the runway

Company unknown to me (Italian, no doubt)

Our neighbor's cabin looks like it's on fire, with the sunset streaming through it.

Then the cockpit

No gangway landing today

No problem, the temperature's just right and we're in no real hurry.

I take advantage of this PAXBUS landing to take some photos of our steed.

The tire on the right looks a little under-inflated?

Another ITA arrives at the parking lot

A service station in the middle of the slopes is a novelty, as the combustion-powered vehicles have to be refueled…

I was in contact with one of Orly's managers a few months ago (I advised him on choosing his Tesla), and he explained to me that he had been campaigning for years to switch the fleet of vehicles working at the airport to electric; despite the fact that this fleet is captive, which removes the brake: will I find a terminal on my route?
And despite the good performance of the Renault Zoé over the last few years, the switch to electric has been a real obstacle course for him.

FCO

Several PAXBUS are pouring out their streams of PAX, and as a CDG user, I was worried about the passage of the PAF.

Not at all, counting the walking time before the PAF,

Then to reach the baggage area, only 6 minutes, the explanation is simple, more than 8 PARAFE kiosks in operation, (with the small one we're not eligible), several counters open to receive non-EEC nationals and non-eligible PAX, that's called efficiency.

We went through the baggage delivery area (they normally have to go directly to LAX) with everything we needed to change in our cabin baggage.

I tried to take an UBER to the hotel, after waiting several minutes without a decent offer (the offers being in Uber luxe around 40€ for 5 kilometers?!).

We made our way to the cab rank, where we waited about 10 minutes, with some drivers refusing our fare because it was only €28 (expensive for kilometers), whereas Rome is €50.

For the return journey, we booked the hotel shuttle bus for €6 per person.
I'll post the timetable of the shuttle bus (Hotel Mercure) if anyone is interested in joining this hotel from the airport.

Tomorrow's long-haul flight to LAX