What are the important changes for travel in Italy in 2024?
From new flights and train routes to the opening of an airport on the Amalfi Coast, travellers can expect plenty of changes in Italy in 2024.
New flights in 2024
New routes to the Middle East, West Africa, the US and Canada, increased flights to Scandinavia, and new schedules to destinations including Germany, Denmark, Scotland, France and Spain are among the offerings airlines are making in 2024.
READ MORE: The new direct flights to and from Italy in 2024
American Airlines, Norwegian Air, ITA Airways, Wizz Air and Jet 2 are some of the carriers with extra flights next year, which you can check in detail in this separate article.
Slightly more expensive flights
Italy's government has announced plans to include an 'airport boarding tax' in its 2024 budget.
An extra fee of €7.50 or €9 will be applied at the airports in Rome and Venice respectively, while passengers leaving from other Italian airports will pay an additional €6.
The tax will be passed on to the traveller in the cost of the airline ticket. Local municipalities will also have the option of adding their own €3 tax.
New travel system for non-EU tourists
One EU-wide change due to come into effect in 2024 will affect travel in and out of the European Union for non-EU citizens such as Brits, Americans, Australians and Canadians.
The EES (Entry/Exit System) will replace the current system of border guards and passport stamps with an electronic swipe in/swipe out system that will register more details such as immigration status.
The system's launch has been delayed multiple times, but is currently due to be implemented across the EU by late 2024.
READ MORE: EES and ETIAS - What are the big changes for travel in Europe?
A new passport control system will be launched in the EU in 2024. (Photo by Rome's Fiumicino Airport Authority (ADR) / AFP).
Amalfi Coast airport to open
The Salerno-Costa d'Amalfi airport, strategically located outside the city of Salerno along the Amalfi Coast, is set to open in summer 2024 following a redevelopment costing half a billion euros.
It's hoped the investment will pay off with the anticipated arrival of three million visitors over three years, boosting the local economy and taking the pressure off nearby Naples-Capodichino airport, Campania regional president Vincenzo De Luca told journalists.
Italy-France rail line to reopen
A transalpine rail route connecting Italy with France is expected to reopen in summer 2024, after major damage from a landslide in August resulted in its closure.
Heavy summer storms caused 10,000 cubic metres of rock to fall on the crossing, blocking the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, Europe's oldest railway tunnel. Officials said work to clear the tunnel had proved more difficult than initially expected, delaying its reopening to mid-2024.
READ ALSO: How key France-Italy rail link closure will affect winter travel
New 'tourist train' rail routes
Italy's government is introducing a new rail network 2024 that will take visitors from Italy's major cities to smaller tourist destinations, as part of an effort to make tourism in the country more sustainable.
The inaugural Treni Turistici Italiani (Italian Tourist Trains) trip is set to take place on December 15th, 2023, when a night train will take passengers from Rome to the ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Italian Alps.
The project will include three different types of services, from luxury to slower-paced regional trains. Other routes announced for 2024 include a line linking Rome to the ruins of Metaponto in Basilicata, and a Milan-Livorno-Genova connection.
Meanwhile a weekly train service connecting Rome with the ancient ruins of Pompeii, introduced in 2023, is set to be renewed for 2024 due to popular demand.
READ MORE: Where Italy's new 'tourist trains' can take you in 2024
A passenger waits for a train at Manarola, Cinque Terre. Italy's rail network is set to expand to include special 'tourist train' routes. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP)
Italy to trial hydrogen trains
A passenger train service powered by environmentally-friendly hydrogen, whose only by-product is water, is set to launch in Italy in 2024.
Trains on the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo route in Lombardy's Val Camonica Alpine valley will run on the zero-emissions fuel from next year, according to Ferrovie Nord Milano, Italy's second-largest railway company.
The scheme, which cost an estimated €392.4 million, involves replacing an entire fleet of diesel trains with 14 new hydrogen trains, eight of which will become operational by 2026.
Night train from Florence and Milan to Barcelona
A new Nightjet sleeper service will run between Brussels-Berlin and Paris-Berlin three times a week from December 2023, becoming a daily service from October 2024.
This provides a key east-west link, and will help with connecting journeys from Paris, London, and Brussels to Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow and Prague.
READ ALSO: The big changes for train travel across Europe in 2024
The plan is that in December 2024, Barcelona will join in with a link to Zurich, on a sleeper train network that will also connect it to other cities including Florence, Milan, Cologne, Basel and Hamburg.
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New flights in 2024
New routes to the Middle East, West Africa, the US and Canada, increased flights to Scandinavia, and new schedules to destinations including Germany, Denmark, Scotland, France and Spain are among the offerings airlines are making in 2024.
READ MORE: The new direct flights to and from Italy in 2024
American Airlines, Norwegian Air, ITA Airways, Wizz Air and Jet 2 are some of the carriers with extra flights next year, which you can check in detail in this separate article.
Slightly more expensive flights
Italy's government has announced plans to include an 'airport boarding tax' in its 2024 budget.
An extra fee of €7.50 or €9 will be applied at the airports in Rome and Venice respectively, while passengers leaving from other Italian airports will pay an additional €6.
The tax will be passed on to the traveller in the cost of the airline ticket. Local municipalities will also have the option of adding their own €3 tax.
New travel system for non-EU tourists
One EU-wide change due to come into effect in 2024 will affect travel in and out of the European Union for non-EU citizens such as Brits, Americans, Australians and Canadians.
The EES (Entry/Exit System) will replace the current system of border guards and passport stamps with an electronic swipe in/swipe out system that will register more details such as immigration status.
The system's launch has been delayed multiple times, but is currently due to be implemented across the EU by late 2024.
READ MORE: EES and ETIAS - What are the big changes for travel in Europe?
Amalfi Coast airport to open
The Salerno-Costa d'Amalfi airport, strategically located outside the city of Salerno along the Amalfi Coast, is set to open in summer 2024 following a redevelopment costing half a billion euros.
It's hoped the investment will pay off with the anticipated arrival of three million visitors over three years, boosting the local economy and taking the pressure off nearby Naples-Capodichino airport, Campania regional president Vincenzo De Luca told journalists.
Italy-France rail line to reopen
A transalpine rail route connecting Italy with France is expected to reopen in summer 2024, after major damage from a landslide in August resulted in its closure.
Heavy summer storms caused 10,000 cubic metres of rock to fall on the crossing, blocking the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, Europe's oldest railway tunnel. Officials said work to clear the tunnel had proved more difficult than initially expected, delaying its reopening to mid-2024.
READ ALSO: How key France-Italy rail link closure will affect winter travel
New 'tourist train' rail routes
Italy's government is introducing a new rail network 2024 that will take visitors from Italy's major cities to smaller tourist destinations, as part of an effort to make tourism in the country more sustainable.
The inaugural Treni Turistici Italiani (Italian Tourist Trains) trip is set to take place on December 15th, 2023, when a night train will take passengers from Rome to the ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Italian Alps.
The project will include three different types of services, from luxury to slower-paced regional trains. Other routes announced for 2024 include a line linking Rome to the ruins of Metaponto in Basilicata, and a Milan-Livorno-Genova connection.
Meanwhile a weekly train service connecting Rome with the ancient ruins of Pompeii, introduced in 2023, is set to be renewed for 2024 due to popular demand.
READ MORE: Where Italy's new 'tourist trains' can take you in 2024
Italy to trial hydrogen trains
A passenger train service powered by environmentally-friendly hydrogen, whose only by-product is water, is set to launch in Italy in 2024.
Trains on the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo route in Lombardy's Val Camonica Alpine valley will run on the zero-emissions fuel from next year, according to Ferrovie Nord Milano, Italy's second-largest railway company.
The scheme, which cost an estimated €392.4 million, involves replacing an entire fleet of diesel trains with 14 new hydrogen trains, eight of which will become operational by 2026.
Night train from Florence and Milan to Barcelona
A new Nightjet sleeper service will run between Brussels-Berlin and Paris-Berlin three times a week from December 2023, becoming a daily service from October 2024.
This provides a key east-west link, and will help with connecting journeys from Paris, London, and Brussels to Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow and Prague.
READ ALSO: The big changes for train travel across Europe in 2024
The plan is that in December 2024, Barcelona will join in with a link to Zurich, on a sleeper train network that will also connect it to other cities including Florence, Milan, Cologne, Basel and Hamburg.
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