As a major transatlantic hub for American Airlines, Philadelphia International Airport naturally has a few routes to Italy, although only one of them, the one to Rome, is operated year-round. During the busy Northern Summer travel season, American serves the cities of Milan, Naples, and Venice from PHL with its European workhorse, the 787-8 Dreamliner. Since I’ve done flights from Philadelphia to Venice and Milan, the last one to do was Naples, and this week, I got around to it. This flight is probably tied with the Milan one for how beautiful the descent was, as Naples lies just west of several large massifs towering over the Italian countryside. I’m glad to have finally flown to all of AA’s Italian destinations out of Philly, and I hope y’all enjoy this trip report!
Server: Solo
Airline: American Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Origin: Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL)
Destination: Naples-Capodichino International Airport, Capodichino, Italy (NAP)
Flight Number: AA780
Route: KPHL-LIRN
Seat: 4A (Flagship Business)
Time En Route: 8 Hours 21 Minutes
Getting ready to board at Gate A12 in Philadelphia. We’re becoming very well-acquainted with American Airlines’s 787-8s this year, having flown on them to Milan and Honolulu. The type has fit into the shoes left by the 767-300ER, A330-200, and A330-300 very well, taking over much of the airline’s transatlantic network and expanding it even further, with the inauguration of new routes from airports like Philadelphia, Dallas, and Chicago. One of these is Naples, which is served both from ORD and PHL.
Taxiing by Phildelphia Tower on the way to the runway. While our most recent flight in Flagship Business on the 787-8 has been in one of the newer Super Diamond seats, our aircraft is equipped with the bespoke Concept D seat present on American’s older 787-8s. These seats have acquired a reputation of being cumbersome and difficult to use, as well as not holding up very well in the present day. Hopefully this isn’t the case for us on this flight, but we’re not exactly holding our breath.
Departing Philadelphia International from Runway 27L. Since our seat faces aft, we’ve got an excellent view of the port engine and wing. We’re also listening to the quiet high-pitched hum of the GEnx at takeoff thrust as we climb into the night sky over Pennsylvania. It’s almost enough to put us to sleep right here and now, but hunger is gnawing at us hard enough to keep us awake.
Climbing to our initial cruising altitude of 37,000 feet over Wenonah, New Jersey. As we head northeast towards the Atlantic, we’ve got our seat partially reclined to relax a bit before dinner. Everything appears to be in good working order with the hardware, even though it took us a moment to get used to how it operates again. We’re crossing our fingers that everything else with it, like sleeping, proceeds without issue.
Finishing up dinner after overflying Nantucket, Massachusetts. The catering tonight was towards the upper end of our experiences with American Airlines. It’s not the best food we’ve had with the airline by any means, but we definitely feel like we got what we paid for. Now it’s time to get some sleep, which is the make-or-break point for the Concept D seats from what we’ve read.
A few hours of sleep and couple thousand feet of altitude later, and we’re waking up over the commune of Boos, in Normandy. Sleeping was okay, but it reminded us of why we prefer the Super Diamond seats in Flagship Business. The seat and footwell were both tighter than we’d have liked, and the passenger in the seat forward of us kept moving around, which jostled us a bit, too. However, some sleep is better than none, so we could have come out of this with a much worse impression of the seat.
Descending over the hills and mountains of the middle of Italy on our way into Napoli. Since waking up, it’s been an utterly uneventful flight. We had a somewhat uninspired breakfast over the south of France, followed by an outstanding orange juice to wash it down. The service on this flight largely makes up for the gripes about the seat, being above average for AA, in our experience.
Arriving shortly after noon in Naples, with Mount Vesuvius rising in the distance. The volcano is renowned worldwide for its destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D. and as a landmark of the Mezzogiorno, being almost inextricably associated with Naples. For such a historic city, the airport seems to be on the smaller side. It took until the late 2000s to get transatlantic service, and even now that’s only on a seasonal basis.
Taxiing to the passenger ramp. Due to it’s relatively constrained ramp space, Capodichino only has a couple spots for widebodies like ours. Additionally, it doesn’t have jetbridges, either, leaving passengers deplaning at the outlying stands to wait for a bus in the Mediterranean sun to take them to the terminal. Nevertheless, this is outweighed by the fact that it’s an absolutely glorious day in Naples, perfect for enjoying fresh air and the scent of jet fuel.
Viewing our aircraft from the shuttle taking us to the terminal after deplaning via airstair. Overall, we have mixed feelings about the Concept D seat. While ours wasn’t as bad as it could have been, there wasn’t really anything particularly good that stood out. It was just decent and really nothing more. Despite this, we had very good service and generally good dining on this flight, which helps alleviate the issues we have with the seat. In conclusion, while we aren’t exactly going to be scheduling our flights in Flagship Business to be in aircraft with the Concept D seats, we can work with them. For now, though, it’s time to explore the area around Naples before driving up the coast to Rome.