My husband and I want to return to Sicily next May, where we ended our tour of Italy on our 1994 honeymoon.
I read that our best bet is to travel Air Italy with a stop in Rome and then on to Palermo. Unfortunately, that airline doesn't fly out of EWR. Since our trip is only 12 days including travel days, we're trying to minimize the time spent in airports (but who doesn't? ;)
Any suggestions would be most welcome!
Posted by
5174 posts
This is a good place to search: https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search
Enter one stop and go from there. A brief layover somewhere like Munich won't be too bad.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12005 posts
Air Italy is out of business. Do you mean ITA?
ITA has one stop service from JFK via Rome to PMO
Lufthansa has a one stop from EWR via MUC to CTA
Depending on what flexibility you have there are multiple options
Posted by
Los Angeles
4874 posts
or use Google Flight, which is pretty user friendly. Or ask one of those old-fashioned travel agents at AAA for help.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7249 posts
When we went, we had a layover in Munich going over and Frankfurt on the return. We flew into Catania. We purposefully avoided connections that went through Rome.
Posted by
Irving
3315 posts
Have you considered flying from EWR to Catania and taking a train from the airport to Siracusa and sleeping there a few nights before taking a direct train from Siracusa to Palermo (4h 45m) and flying home from Palermo? The flight from/to EWR requires a connection in Munich.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16168 posts
United flies from Newark (EWR) to Palermo (PMO) non stop but only in summer. However I’m not sure they are now with the pandemic. So check with United.
EWR is a United hub and United is a Lufthansa partner. Lufthansa flies to both Palermo (PMO) and Catania (CTA) from both Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC), So I would look for a United/Lufthansa code share flight from EWR to/from CTA/PMO via FRA or MUC.
Swiss Air, which is part of the Lufthansa group and also a partner with United, flies to EWR from Zurich (ZRH) as well as to the two aforementioned Sicilian airports. Therefore you could also look into a flight from EWR to Sicily via ZRH with Swiss Air.
Happy search. Try www.Kayak.com using the multi-city search function:
Going: From EWR to PMO (or CTA)
Returning From PMO (or CTA) to EWR
Posted by
6 posts
My daughter and I are flying to Sicily this May. We are flying nonstop JFK to Rome then we booked a 1 hr. flight from Rome to Palermo on Ryan Air as Alitalia is no longer in business since October and the airline that bought them is just starting. Return is Catania to Naples on RyanAir then after touring Sorrento area, we are flying back from Rome to JFK. JFK was cheaper than flying out of EWR and no layover. I am all about minimizing layovers-too stressful and more chances for lost luggage. We also were bound by AA since this is a rebooked flight from 2020.
Posted by
OP
17 posts
I rarely use this forum, but whenever I do, I'm overwhelmed at the generosity of those who respond with their experience and knowledge. I'm so grateful and in awe of all you seasoned travelers!
It's true that flying out of JFK is preferable but getting there is so much more involved for us than departing from EWR. We can't book until the end of May, so I am going to read all of your replies carefully in the meantime--and hope that Covid outbreaks are just an unpleasant memory! And I did read about the demise of Alitalia and not sure when the new service kicks in.
We are considering flying out of Palermo and staying in Rome for 2-3 days before return flight to Newark. It would be our first multi-city flight and the CheapO site was recommended to us, so fingers crossed!