ITA Airways has filed a further round of changes to its planned intercontinental operations for the 2026-27 northern winter season. The revisions, current as of August 20, 2026, cut some routes back, push others up, and suspend two North American services outright through the deepest weeks of winter.
North America takes the deepest cuts
The clearest theme is a mid-winter pullback in the United States. Rome Fiumicino β San Francisco is suspended between January 11 and March 1, 2027, and Rome Fiumicino β Washington Dulles is suspended from January 10 to March 1, 2027. Rome β Houston, which is scheduled for three weekly flights with the Airbus A330-900neo from October 25, 2026, goes dark between January 9 and February 28, 2027.
Seasonal suspensions of this kind are a normal response to the January-February trough on the North Atlantic, when leisure demand collapses and business traffic alone cannot fill a widebody. Concentrating the fleet elsewhere for six to eight weeks is often more profitable than flying thin.
South America and the Indian Ocean move the other way
Rome Fiumicino β Buenos Aires Ezeiza is being reshaped rather than trimmed. Between October 24 and November 11, 2026, service reduces from nine to seven weekly flights, with the inbound routed via Rio de Janeiro Galeao. From November 15, 2026 the route then increases from nine to 10 weekly, operated by the Airbus A350-900.
Rome β Male is scheduled to grow through the first quarter of 2027 with the A330-900neo: four weekly from January 11 to February 3, 2027, rising to five weekly from February 4 to March 27, 2027. That is the mirror image of the North American picture β the Maldives peak lands exactly when the transatlantic market is at its weakest.
Rome Fiumicino β Algiers, meanwhile, reduces from 12 to 10 weekly flights from October 25, 2026, operated by the Airbus A319.
Previously reported additions still stand
Several earlier filings remain in the schedule. Rome β Fort-de-France is due to launch on December 5, 2026 with one weekly A330-900neo scheduled charter. Rome β Mauritius increases from two weekly in the 2025-26 winter to three weekly from October 25, 2026, also on the A330-900neo.
Rome β Santo Domingo returns on November 30, 2026 with one weekly A330-900neo, rising to two weekly from December 20, 2026. It is a notable restoration: Alitalia last served Santo Domingo until October 1998.
A leisure-weighted winter
Taken together, the changes describe an airline tilting its winter widebody flying toward warm-weather leisure markets β the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the southern hemisphere summer in Argentina β while stepping back from mid-winter US business routes. The A330-900neo does most of the heavy lifting in that plan, with the A350-900 reserved for the longest and densest sectors.
As with all schedule filings, the plan remains subject to change ahead of the season and passengers should confirm timings closer to travel.
Sources: AeroRoutes. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By Marco Bianchi.
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