Review: Alitalia A319 Economy Class Experience, Milan-Linate to Rome

Hello and welcome to another trip report. It's really early here and very quiet too at Milan's

Lunatte airport. Today I'm flying Alitalia down to Rome a short hop in economy. Join me and let's

check it out. Having flown into Malpensa airport the previous day I chose Lunatte for my onward

journey. As you can see, it's close to the city centre and I was able to get a shuttle from my

hotel for €5. Linate is easy to use and preferable to Malpensa because it's so close to the city

and it's no surprise that Alitalia use this airport for their shuttles into Rome

As I'm on a long trip, I have a bag to check. Baggage check opens at 6am and is efficient and

I'm leaving with my boarding pass in less than five minutes. Linate airport is very busy in the

morning as most of the flights are geared around people travelling on business. 18 flights leave in

the first hour alone. There would have been a day when these low ceilings and dim lights would have

been fashionable. That day is not today though. Security is quick and I'm through in just a few

minutes. That gives me plenty of time to check out the lounge. Lounge access is not included in my

economy class ticket, but I do have a priority pass. I'm always interested to see how much effort

airports put into their lounge offer. The Salar Leonardo is on the mezzanine level

and I was pretty impressed. The drink selection is extensive, and all of the fruit and continental items are fresh and appetising

There's a great Italian coffee machine as well as juices and ready made breakfast sandwiches

on offer today. I have to say I didn't try the orange, lemon and carrot juice

That sounded pretty disgusting to me. I had a small breakfast as I knew there would be no food on board today's flight and a fantastic

and very necessary espresso coffee. Everywhere in the lounge has access to a powerpoint, and the decor is tasteful and subdued

There's even some modern art in one of the sitting areas. Overall the Sala Leonardo is a very good lounge, and much better than it needed to be, given

that Lenate is not an airport you'd typically spend a lot of time in

Heading to the gate I spot the Iberia flight to Madrid Iberia must be one of the least consistent airlines I flown And here our ride an Airbus A319 in the new Alitalia livery We lucky to have a jet bridge

gate, as Lunate has a lot of remote stands, as you can see here

There's our crew arriving. On the day I flew, Alitalia revealed they'd be getting yet another

new uniform. That's pretty impressive for an airline in financial difficulties. In fact, I can't remember a time when Alitalia didn't have money trouble

Anyway, on we go. It's a pretty standard 3 plus 3 layout

European business class at the front here with a blocked centre seat. My seat today is in economy, 20F, just a normal economy seat as you can see here

I'm not a tall guy, so I was shocked by the poor legroom here

My knees are actually touching the seat in front. I couldn't find a reliable figure for their seat pitch online

so I'm going to guess this is 29 inches. It's really not good

The morning haze ensures Milan disappears very quickly behind us, so let's check out

the route down to Rome today. It's 292 miles and we'll cruise at 25,000 feet for our 55 minute flight today

Service is done with a trolley from the rear, so sitting at the back had some advantage

this time. There is no food at all on this shuttle, but there's a choice of coffee, water

and juice. I certainly did not need a coffee after the industrial strength espresso I had

in the lounge. They serve blood orange juice, which is delicious. Alitalia is a stylish

carrier and I've always loved their simple logo, which you can also see on the headrest

covers. The magazine on board is okay and it has a number of English articles. And of

course you know how much I love my route maps. One thing I didn't realise until I opened this

route map is that Alitalia serves some destinations in South America. Our flight takes us down the

western coast of Italy and while we're looking out the window, do you know any other airline

that prints their name on top of the wing? There's a duty-free brochure on board and we can see the

storage in the seat is actually quite good, with a substantial pocket able to take all of my gear

It doesn't make up for the poor legroom though. Did you know your GPS will work on your phone even in airplane mode

It's helpful, as I can identify us passing the coastal town of Piombino, which you can

see just here. We're descending in no time, and there are no ATC delays in Rome today, so we don't

have to hold on our approach. You can just make out a 777 leaving here, likely heading out over the Atlantic westbound

Let me know if you can identify this airfield north of Rome. I couldn't and it's the sort of thing that'll annoy me for quite a long time

If you want to do this flight yourself, it can be done for just £41 one way

That's about 46 euro. That fare doesn't include hand baggage or seat selection though

Business can be booked for £380, but nobody does that. Everyone in that business cabin you saw earlier will be connecting through Rome to somewhere long haul on a through ticket, I'm sure

This was my first time flying Alitalia, and I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the flight was very cheap

But there's very limited service for a legacy carrier, and the seat was not at all comfortable

Not something I say very often. And here I am, safely on the ground here in Rome

Fumichino Airport. I've got about eight or nine hours to kill so I'm gonna head

into town before my next flight on this world tour. That flight's going to be

with Saudia which is the national airline of Saudi Arabia. I've never been

to the Middle East or flown on any Middle East an airline before so that's

completely uncharted territory for me. It's uncharted territory for this channel and it's not an airline that you frequently see featured in YouTube trip

reports. So I hope you'll subscribe and catch that video when I release it. It

will be the next video released on this channel but until then have a good one