Alitalia MilleMiglia - FCO connection

Dear all,

Apologies for opening another thread about connection times, but I could really use some personalised advice.

I have a LHR-FCO-BLQ // LIN-LHR ticket. The connection time in FCO is 80 mins.; the flight from LHR arrives at terminal C, while the flight to BLQ departs from terminal A.

Problem: the reliability index in the last two months for AZ207 LHR-FCO is 56%, with an average delay of 28 minutes.

First question: what are my chances of making the connection? I never do transits at FCO, so I have no idea how long it actually takes to go from C to A.

Second question: if I do not make the connection, the next available flight the day after is too late for me. Only option would be renting a car and driving to my destination (which is actually not BLQ itself). In this case, I would not fly the FCO-BLQ leg; is there a chance to ask AZ to preserve the validity of the LIN-LHR segment (which is basically the return leg of ticket, and would be usually cancelled if I do not fly the intermediate one)?

By the way, I can't fly BA LHR-BLQ (have an "in-flight meeting" with a client on the LHR-FCO leg).

Thanks in advance for any input and advice.

Dear all,

Apologies for opening another thread about connection times, but I could really use some personalised advice.

I have a LHR-FCO-BLQ // LIN-LHR ticket. The connection time in FCO is 80 mins.; the flight from LHR arrives at terminal C, while the flight to BLQ departs from terminal A.

Problem: the reliability index in the last two months for AZ207 LHR-FCO is 56%, with an average delay of 28 minutes.

First question: what are my chances of making the connection? I never do transits at FCO, so I have no idea how long it actually takes to go from C to A.

Second question: if I do not make the connection, the next available flight the day after is too late for me. Only option would be renting a car and driving to my destination (which is actually not BLQ itself). In this case, I would not fly the FCO-BLQ leg; is there a chance to ask AZ to preserve the validity of the LIN-LHR segment (which is basically the return leg of ticket, and would be usually cancelled if I do not fly the intermediate one)?

By the way, I can't fly BA LHR-BLQ (have an "in-flight meeting" with a client on the LHR-FCO leg).

Thanks in advance for any input and advice.


TC to TA is quite easy.
For instance, yesterday I flew from London and I cleared controls (TC is the extra-schengen terminal) in less then 10', so basically TC-TA would have taken less than 20'. You can add extra-time depending on time, but 80' are fine.
Based on that average delay, I don't see any problem.
Anyway, I have little experience with AZ over several past months, maybe other flyers can report recent experience and real max delays.

Rather than rent a car, I think you can consider getting Stazione Termini with the Leonardo Express (direct train FCO-Termini) and take a high speed train. It takes 2 hours 20' - 2 hours 50' to get Bologna by train, depending on service. You can hire a car there.
With a car, the problem could be the traffic around Rome (there're several works exactly at the beginning of the motorway to Florence/Bologna), then near Florence, then again near Bologna.
Traffic can depend on time. May you share some details about that?

You should be fine with 80 minutes. Basically, you will do the following

1. Get off the plane and make your way to the shuttle peoplemover - make sure you're as far forward on your LHR-FCO as possible and get up smartly when you arrive at the gate
2. Take the shuttle - runs every 3-4 minutes or so and takes a couple of minutes
3. When you get off the shuttle, walk towards the main terminal and after 50m or so there are escalators on the left up to the upper level (follow signs for "Transiti")
4. All that will have taken you 5-10 minutes max (see also Alice11 above) At that point there's a security check. IME you shouldn't lose more than 5 minutes. If you're really in a rush, people might let you to the front of the queue. But most of the time there isn't even a queue.
5. Then it's a 10 minute walk (obviously, less if you run) from C to B to A which are all directly connected. Passing from C to B you need to show your passport but again there isn't normally a queue, and I'm sure you can move to the front if there is one.

I've done plane door in C to gate in A in 15 minutes.

Also, AZ is very good at managing late connections. If it's very tight they'll probably meet you at the plane door. In some (rare) cases I've seen them drive pax across the tarmac to the connecting flight.

Just try not to check any luggage - the chance of a checked bag making it is rather less than of you making it, unfortunately.

Regarding your last question, under "old Alitalia" you probably would have been ok if you gave them a call, but "new Alitalia" seems not to price their ex-LHR tickets always as a series of single flights. It all depends on what ticket you have - do you know its booking class, i.e. how restricted is it? What I suggest you do is to price an LHR-FCO-BLQ single and a LIN-LHR single, and see how that compares to an LHR-FCO-BLQ//LIN-LHR on the same flights. If the two singles cost more than the return, then you are less likely to get away with omitting the segment. Then try calling them.

Thank you VERY MUCH Alice11 and BAAZ for your very detailed clarifications. I truly appreciate your help!

Unless the flight from LHR is heavily dealyed, it appears that I should be fine. Eventually, I will learn something new :) (I travelled to/from FCO dozens of times, but funnily I never did a transit there)


Rather than rent a car, I think you can consider getting Stazione Termini with the Leonardo Express (direct train FCO-Termini) and take a high speed train. It takes 2 hours 20' - 2 hours 50' to get Bologna by train, depending on service. You can hire a car there.
With a car, the problem could be the traffic around Rome (there're several works exactly at the beginning of the motorway to Florence/Bologna), then near Florence, then again near Bologna.


Thanks for the advice, but I have a meeting north of Pesaro and I'd prefer to drive 3:40h from FCO rather than getting a train to Bologna and then drive 1:20h from there. To be honest, I would have opted for this route from the beginnin rather than flying to BLQ, but it's a long story and now I have to stick with the plan.


Traffic can depend on time. May you share some details about that?

I am supposed to land in FCO at 19:55. If I need to get a car from there, it means that the flight was delayed more than 50 mins and, at that point, I really hope that the traffic won't be that bad...


Just try not to check any luggage - the chance of a checked bag making it is rather less than of you making it, unfortunately.

Nah, hand baggage only.


What I suggest you do is to price an LHR-FCO-BLQ single and a LIN-LHR single, and see how that compares to an LHR-FCO-BLQ//LIN-LHR on the same flights. If the two singles cost more than the return, then you are less likely to get away with omitting the segment. Then try calling them.

You can buy cheap O/W flights UK to Italy, but not Italy to UK.


I'll let you know how it goes in a couple of days!

I am supposed to land in FCO at 19:55. If I need to get a car from there, it means that the flight was delayed more than 50 mins and, at that point, I really hope that the traffic won't be that bad...

I agree. Car is a better option than train, at that time.

Perhaps Autostrade can force drivers to detour on some segment near Rome, because they're adding lanes, overpasses and junctions, but at that time you shouldn't be really affected by this stuff - in terms of huge delays, I mean.

I see now that one of your location is Italy so I suppose you speak Italian. For some peace of mind, you can check http://www.autostrade.it/ for some last-minute change. But between FCO and the A1 there're some screens with real-time information too.








You can buy cheap O/W flights UK to Italy, but not Italy to UK.

BA does. Can you manage to fly AZ UK-to-Italy and BA Italy-to-UK?