Are There Any Direct Flight Options From the USA to Italy for My Dog or Cat?

SHORT ANSWER

Yes, but the honest answer depends on your pet's size. If your dog or cat is small enough to fly in the cabin with you, several airlines, including Delta, United, and American, offer nonstop or convenient one-stop routes to Italy for a small dog or cat riding under the seat in front of you. But if your pet needs to travel in the aircraft hold, which is true for most dogs and many cats, your nonstop options narrow considerably. ITA Airways, Italy's national flag carrier, is the only airline currently offering true nonstop USA-to-Italy flights that accept pets as freight in the hold for the general public. Starwood Pet Travel books pet moves on ITA Airways nonstop service from New York (JFK), Miami (MIA), Chicago (ORD), and Los Angeles (LAX), all landing at Rome Fiumicino (FCO).

Why Your Pet's Size Determines Your Real Options

The question "is there a direct flight" has a different answer depending on whether your pet is flying as carry-on baggage or as freight.

If your dog or cat is small enough to meet in-cabin size and weight limits, roughly 20 pounds including the carrier on most U.S. airlines, you actually have more nonstop and connecting options. Delta, United, and American all permit small dogs and cats in the cabin on international flights to Italy, provided the pet meets age, health, and kennel requirements and Italy is not on a restricted list (it is not). None of the three major U.S. carriers list Italy among their in-cabin pet exceptions.

The picture changes for pets that need to travel in the hold. Delta's own pet travel policy states that checked pet transport is available only to active-duty U.S. military members or State Department Foreign Service officers traveling on official transfer orders, not to the general public. United and American operate under similar restrictions for their standard cargo and checked-pet programs. That leaves a meaningful gap for the average family relocating a medium or large dog to Italy with a major U.S. carrier.

Why ITA Airways Is the Nonstop Option for Most Pets Moving to Italy

ITA Airways, Italy's flag carrier and a Star Alliance member, fills that gap. According to ITA Airways' own policies, pets can travel either in the cabin or in the aircraft hold, and both options are available to general passengers, not just military or diplomatic travelers.

For cabin travel, ITA permits a pet weighing up to 8 kg (including carrier and food) on international flights, in a soft-sided, well-ventilated carrier no larger than 55 x 40 x 23 cm, placed under the seat in front of the passenger. For hold travel, pets must ride in a rigid carrier made of fiberglass or hard plastic, with a metal locking door and metal (not plastic) side vents. Maximum hold carrier dimensions vary by aircraft type, so it is worth confirming kennel sizing against your specific flight before booking.

One important update: as of December 1, 2025, ITA Airways restricts pet transport, in both the cabin and the hold, to dogs and cats only. Reservations for other pet species made before November 30, 2025 are still honored under the prior policy, but new bookings for animals other than dogs and cats are no longer accepted.

The Routes Starwood Books: JFK, MIA, ORD, and LAX to Rome (FCO)

Starwood Pet Travel's standard operational routing for Italy relocations uses ITA Airways nonstop flights from four U.S. gateways, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York, Miami International Airport (MIA), O'Hare International Airport (ORD) in Chicago, and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), all landing nonstop at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO) in Rome.

It is worth noting for full transparency that ITA Airways' published route network is actually broader than those four cities. The airline also operates nonstop service to Rome Fiumicino from Boston (BOS), Washington Dulles (IAD), Houston (IAH), and San Francisco (SFO). Those additional routes exist on ITA's schedule, but they fall outside Starwood's standard booked pet routing, so if you are departing from one of those cities, ask your coordinator directly about routing rather than assuming your local nonstop ITA flight is automatically part of the standard pet booking process.

All four of Starwood's booked routes land at the same Italian airport, Rome Fiumicino (FCO), regardless of departure city. If your final destination is Milan, Florence, or another Italian city, your pet will typically connect from Rome on a domestic Italian flight or complete the journey by ground transport, so it is worth discussing the full door-to-door routing with your coordinator rather than assuming FCO is the final stop.

What a Nonstop Flight Actually Changes for Your Pet

A nonstop flight is not just a convenience for the pet owner, it materially reduces risk for the animal. Every additional connection means an additional tarmac transfer, an additional loading and unloading cycle, and an additional opportunity for a kennel to be mishandled, delayed, or separated from its paperwork. Layovers also expose pets to longer total time in the hold and greater temperature variability between aircraft and ground handling.

As Ashley Adkins, Marketing Specialist at Starwood Pet Travel, explains: "We default to nonstop routing whenever it exists for exactly this reason. Every connection is a point where something can go wrong that has nothing to do with the paperwork or the pet's health, just logistics. A nonstop flight from JFK to Rome means your dog is loaded once and unloaded once. That is a meaningfully different risk profile than a routing with a European connection in between."

What Booking a Nonstop ITA Airways Flight Actually Looks Like

Kacey Witkowski, Director of Operations at Starwood Pet Travel, works directly with families booking ITA Airways routes for their pets.

"The biggest misconception I run into is that people assume any nonstop flight from their city to Italy will automatically take their pet," she says. "ITA Airways is the one nonstop option where a dog too large for the cabin can actually travel as cargo on the same flight as the family, but that only applies to the routes we have live booking access on, JFK, MIA, ORD, and LAX into Rome. If someone is flying out of a different city, we work out whether a connection or a positioning flight to one of those gateways makes more sense before we ever touch the kennel or the paperwork."

For more on the broader European pet import process, see our complete guide to importing pets to Italy and our Italy relocation page for country-specific service details.

Frequently Asked Questions