For generations, Americans have loved going to Italy to eat pasta and gelato, roam through cobblestone streets, take in art from different periods at the country's endless museums and toss a coin into Rome's Trevi Fountain.
While Italy is currently fifth-most visited country in the world, Americans were second only to Germans when it comes to the number of international arrivals coming in — over 6 million visited the country in 2022.
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To tailor to that demand, airlines have been expanding their service both to large Italian airports and cities that one would have previously needed to reach by train.
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Planning to fly to Italy? American Airlines plans to serve these regional cities
This week, American Airlines (AAL) has unveiled its summer route schedule for Italy. Along with launching a new route between New York's JFK Airport and Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino International Airport (FCO) in Rome, the airline will be bringing back and adding a number of other routes to the country.
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As of March 31, American Airlines will start running daily flights to Rome from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) while its flight between O'Hare and Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) will begin on June 5.
Along with these seasonal routes, the airline will also launch year-round flights to Rome from Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) and Milan's Malapensa Airport (MXP) from JFK.
On June 5, American Airlines will start running its flight between JFK and Rome twice a day due to even higher demand during the summer months.
A city whose residents often end up flying out of the larger JFK or Newark airports, Philadelphia will also get a daily flight to Rome, Venice and Naples International Airport (NAP). The latter route is set to begin on June 5.
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"With 11 daily flights connecting the U.S. with Italy this summer, American's summer schedule offers customers more convenient access to enjoy their summer vacations making new memories in unforgettable locations," American's Senior Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning Brian Znotins said in a statement to Travel + Leisure magazine.
All these routes come on top of flights between the U.S. and Italy offered by other airlines such as Delta (DAL) , United (UAL) and Italy's own ITA Airways. While these airlines have not announced this type of "Italy push," they also offer numerous routes to the country from both large and regional American cities to meet skyrocketing tourism in the post-pandemic period.
Due to Italy's popularity particularly during the summer months, plane fares to its cities from the U.S. tend to spike in the summer and get particularly high the closer one gets to the travel date — in some cases, reaching several thousands of dollars for an economy seat.
Travel platform Expedia (EXPE) once calculated that booking six months before one's travel date will save travelers approximately 15% on an international flight — even if many wait much longer in the hopes of catching that elusive "last-minute deal" that will not occur on popular destinations during peak periods.
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