Introduction
Hello amigos, welcome to this FR on ITA between Florence and Rome.
This is the return trip to this one:
Flight routing
- 1
While this is part of a broader route including MAD-FCO sectors, there wasn't much to report on them, the MAD-FLR route was pretty much like this one
Flight routing
- 1
Without further ado, let's get it on!
Reaching Firenze-Amerigo Vespucci
FLR is conveniently connected by a Tram to the city centre. We had spent the weekend in Arezzo, and because of train schedules (and trenitalia's famous reliability) I had chosen an early train to Florence so we had wide margins to avoid any stress for delays. But everything went smoothly and now the plan was to see if we could get on an earlier flight to Rome and wait for our flight to Madrid in FCO's new lounge.
The walk from the tram station to the terminal is short and foolproof.
FLR is a very small airport, with nothing much to do.
The ITA counters were empty. We went to ITA's "office" to see if we could go ahead with the change, but no luck. I had tried something like this in IB (being gold), and I was granted the change for free. But ITA (even if I hold Premium status) didn't budge. We then tried to go airside to chill at the lounge, but we couldn't get in so early.
So back to Florence with our bags it was.
(a couple of hours later, and after an awful lunch at a tourist trap near the train station)
The place was chaotic. FLR is quite small for the traffic it gets.
Security took ages…done with that we were dumped at the duty free zone.
FLR is way busier than I thought
Our gate area was quite depressing.
We managed to get in to the VIP Club lounge. Bummer. It was crowded and cramped. It felt like a bunker. There were no cold drinks, which is quite an inconvenience during summer. I'm not sure if its better to check for something else on the airside. But at that point we were so tired that we took what we had and that was it.
Boarding time
We reached boarding time, and there was quite a crowd
We then had to walk to our shiny blue A319
It looked glorious in the afternoon light
Some visitors from Spain
Will LHGroup keep this nice livery?
While the plane is posh and nice outside. The inside is cramped and not so "wow". I bought "first row" seats because of our short connection @ FCO
Lots of flights to Spain. IB's fare for the direct flight to MAD was more than double of what I paid for this connecting flight through FCO.
Enroute to Rome
Our A319 got filled and we were off to Rome. The Vueling A319 led the way
We first had to wait for a private jet to arrive
Then we were good to go
Zoom to Florence
And FLR with its super short runway
From then on it was a short uneventful flight
Soon we were in Rome
We were on a tight connection to Madrid…so it was time to run
Made it!
Our flight was a bit delayed…so in theory we could have gone to the lounge and chill, but given its distance to the gate it was not worth it.
