AIRWAYS TRAVELER
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7 The beautiful cabin lights aboard this A220 stood out during boarding . The A220 is well-known for its 2-3 seating layout , which minimizes the number of middle seats .
8 The stunning city of Bari , Puglia ’ s capital , is renowned for its fresh “ orecchiette ” pasta . It attracts millions of tourists annually from all over the world and will soon have a non-stop connection to New York JFK , operated by Neos .
9 ITA ’ s lineup at Milan Linate includes flights to various destinations in Italy and Europe . The airport operates a single 8,000ft ( 2,440m ) runway , designated 17 / 35 .
10 Boarding took place from the older part of Linate Airport , where our line ended up merging with another flight departing from a gate nearby . In true Italian fashion , this caused some confusion among the travelers .
11 The shiny A220-300 that took us home to Amsterdam boarded from the rear door this time , which made the process relatively faster .
seats , the aircraft was in its characteristic fiveabreast configuration in a 2-3 layout . The hard product features a long-haul style adjustable headrest , two (!) USB chargers , a tablet holder , and a storage pocket above the tray table . The legroom is generous enough to fit a largerthan-usual backpack under the seat in front and still stretch comfortably . All considered , one of the best regional cabins I have experienced on a narrow-body aircraft in Europe .
However , despite being just short of one year old , the aircraft already showed signs of wear and tear . My armrest was broken , and the cabin had not been cleaned properly despite the overnight layover . Once the second busload of passengers had boarded , we pushed back on time and taxied to runway 31 .
BRINDISI-MILAN
We took off smoothly and started our climb , flying over the cloud-covered Italian Peninsula and crossing Bari . The service soon started ; ITA still offers all passengers a complimentary drink and snack . Unlike other passengers , who received a small , sweet snack , I was not asked whether I wanted one . I had a glass of apple juice as I checked out the Wi-Fi . The messaging plan retailed for € 4.75 ( US $ 5 ) and did not support videos and pictures . For € 9.50
( US $ 10 ), passengers could use the connectivity for up to two hours without video streaming and gaming ; the full internet package retailed for € 14.25 ( US $ 15 ). At those prices , I decided not to connect to the internet .
Many airlines have implemented excellent entertainment options on personal devices through onboard Wi-Fi . It ’ s a shame that ITA has not gone in that direction , not even for the in-flight magazine . The airline offers a pre-boarding service that allows you to download digital magazines and newspapers free of charge to read offline once on board . This is advertised as a sustainable choice , as printed reading materials are no longer available . It feels to me more like a costcutting operation .
I decided to get some sleep , but that turned out to be difficult because of the noise made by families sitting close to me . While I understand that kids may get loud on flights , it is hard to accept that their parents can often be even louder . So , I decided to keep my thoughts to myself , wear noise-canceling earbuds , and relax .
I reclined the seat and adjusted the comfortable headrest . As I was unable to sleep , I looked out the window and watched an episode of a TV series I had downloaded before
36 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2025 www . airwaysmag . com