ITA Airways to expand to Japan, US and South America, with Qantas to launch direct flights from Rome to Australia.

Air travel in Italy shows hopeful signs of recovery from the impact of the covid-19 pandemic as Rome's Fiumicino airport unveils a range of new international destinations ahead of summer 2022.

The new routes were announced by Aeroporti di Roma (AdR), the company that manages Fiumicino airport - officially known as Leonardo da Vinci - along with Rome's other airport, Ciampino.

Among the big travel news this summer is the launch of Qantas flights between Italy and Australia, offering a non-stop service for the first time between Rome and Perth, and onwards to Sydney.

• Qantas to fly direct from Italy to Australia

ITA Airways, successor to Alitalia as Italy's flagship carrier, will offer flights to Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Tokyo, in addition to New York, Miami and Boston, from June.

WizzAir is to launch 18 new routes, including London Gatwick, Madrid, Marrakesh and Amman, as well as new destinations for Rome including Yerevan (Armenia) and Turku (Finland).

The summer will also see the resumption of direct connections to Asia and South America with flights operated by Singapore Airlines, Aerolíneas Argentinas and Latam.

• ITA Airways launches Rome-New York flights as US reopens to Italy travellers 

WestJet will launch flights between Rome and Calgary, Canada, while Gulf Air will launch a direct connection to Bahrain, and Icelandair will offer flights to Reykjavík.

There will also be new destinations on offer from low-cost airlines Ryanair (Tangier, Girona and Figari), Volotea (Strasbourg) and Transavia (Montpellier).

According to a statement from AdR, this summer will see the launch of 25 new connections, 13 of which were not served by direct flights from Rome even before the pandemic.

• Rome's Fiumicino rated Best Airport in Europe for fourth year in a row

"Despite a still complex situation" - said Marco Troncone, CEO of Aeroporti di Roma - "there are conditions in place for 2022 to be a year of resumption of traffic", with the prospect of Rome's two airports playing a "crucial role" in the development of Italy's tourism sector.

Troncone also cited an "unprecedented summer season" for US companies which will offer a 15 per cent overall increase in seats compared to the same period in 2019.

In addition, AdR identifies two important future developments that present a "crucial opportunity for growth for the two Roman airports": the Jubilee Year 2025 and Expo 2030, if Rome's bid is successful.

Photo credit: Nataliya Pylayeva / Shutterstock.com.