Italy’s geography forces a routing decision that most travellers don’t think about until they’re deep into booking: the country runs nearly 1,300 kilometres from the Alps to Sicily, which means flying in and out of the same city is almost always the wrong approach. The open-jaw strategy — flying Rome in and Milan out, or Venice in and Naples out — saves three to four hours of retracing and often costs the same or less than a standard return. Running this through a comparator is the step most travellers skip, and it is where the real money is.

The main Italian airports worth knowing: Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is the primary hub, a genuinely modern airport with good transit connections to central Rome on the Leonardo Express in thirty minutes (€14, avoid taxis). Milan has two: Malpensa (MXP) for long-haul and major European connections, and Bergamo Orio al Serio (BGY) which is easyJet and Ryanair’s preferred Milan alternative — 47 kilometres from the city centre and two hours by coach, which matters if you’re connecting onward. Venice Marco Polo (VCE) is the entry for the northeast. Naples Capodichino (NAP) is correct for Amalfi, Pompeii, and the Cilento coast — and is meaningfully closer to those destinations than Rome. Palermo and Catania serve Sicily.

From London, economy return to Rome sits at £80-£180 in most of the off-peak calendar. Summer (July-August) and the Christmas-New Year period push fares to £200-£350. The very best fares — £60-£90 return — appear on easyJet and Ryanair for travel in November, early December, January, and February. The catch on those prices is Ryanair’s ancillary cost model: add a hold bag and assigned seats, and the £60 headline fare becomes £120-£140. British Airways and ITA Airways (the ITA rebranding of Alitalia) serve FCO direct from Heathrow at generally £120-£220, with more flexibility on changes. The May-June and September-October windows sit between these extremes: £100-£160 return on major carriers, with fewer service restrictions.

From New York, Rome is one of the most competitive transatlantic routes. Delta, American, United, Alitalia/ITA, and Norwegian all compete across the JFK-FCO corridor. Expect $500-$800 economy return outside peak season; $700-$1,100 in July and August. Italian carrier ITA Airways frequently prices competitively from the US and has a decent premium economy product if you’re considering upgrading.

The Aviasales open-jaw search is genuinely useful for Italy. A Rome-in, Milan-out routing (or Venice-in, Naples-out) often prices within £20-£40 of a standard Rome return, but saves a full transit day and allows a more logical geographic itinerary. Kiwi.com handles the more complex multi-city Italian routings — three or four cities with separate low-cost carrier legs — that standard comparators don’t aggregate well. Once you’ve identified the routing, book direct with the carrier for flexibility: Italian airports have a higher-than-average rate of schedule changes during the summer peak, and having a direct relationship with the airline matters when a 6 a.m. departure becomes a 10 a.m. departure two weeks before travel.