Transatlantic route · frequency, carriers and airport records
FCO→IAD
Rome to Washington
- Flights
- 1,247 both ways
- Carriers
- 2
- Distance
- 4,494 mi
- Period
- July 2025 to June 2026
No public record scores Rome Fiumicino to Washington Dulles International flight by flight. The US Department of Transportation's on-time database covers domestic flights only, and in Europe only the United Kingdom publishes punctuality by route, so what follows is built from the three measurements that do exist. The DOT's international report counts 1,247 flights between the two airports in the twelve months to June 2026, about one departure a day in each direction, flown by United and ITA. EUROCONTROL's year-to-date figure has 64.0% of all departures from Rome Fiumicino leaving within 15 minutes of schedule and 76.0% of arrivals landing within 15 minutes. At the other end, 81.0% of IAD's domestic departures arrived on time in the DOT data, which says something about how the airport itself runs, not about this route.
On EUROCONTROL's year-to-date arrival punctuality, Rome Fiumicino ranks 27th of the 41 European airports on this site with service to the United States. Bilbao leads that table at 84.3% and Manchester closes it at 65.7%. A long-haul departure inherits the airport's morning: an aircraft that arrived late from its previous sector, or a departure queue built up by weather, delays the transatlantic wave with everything else.
Key figures
Flights
1,247
Both directions, July 2025 to June 2026 (DOT)
Carriers
2
United Airlines, ITA Airways
FCO departures on time
64.0%
All destinations, year to date (EUROCONTROL)
IAD domestic on time
81.0%
US DOT, last twelve months of domestic departures
Without a route-level record, the useful question is what the two airports do to a schedule. EUROCONTROL attributes 0.1 minutes of air traffic flow management delay per arriving flight to Rome Fiumicino so far this year; that is delay imposed by the network to hold traffic on the ground elsewhere, not the airline's own. In the DOT data, a delayed domestic departure from IAD ran a little over an hour late on average over the last twelve months, and 1.44% of its scheduled flights were cancelled.
Carrier by carrier
Who flies FCO to IAD
United Airlines flew 79% of the 1,247 flights between FCO and IAD in the DOT's count, with ITA Airways on 265. Loads averaged 206 passengers a flight, which on this route means wide-body aircraft nearly full.
| Airline | Flights | Share | Per month | Passengers / flight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 982 | 79% | 82 | 210 |
| ITA Airways | 265 | 21% | 22 | 189 |
DOT international report, July 2025 to June 2026; flights in both directions together. No delay figures exist for this pair in any public source.
Across the year
How often FCO to IAD flies through the year
The DOT's international report puts 172 flights on the pair in August 2025, the busiest month of the window, and 37 in January 2026, the thinnest. A summer-to-winter swing of that size means the winter schedule is a different operation: fewer frequencies, so a cancellation leaves a longer wait for the next seat.
Flights per month, both directions
- July 2025159
- August 2025172
- September 2025164
- October 2025124
- November 202559
- December 202562
- January 202637
- February 202638
- March 202680
- April 202678
- May 2026111
- June 2026163
The DOT's international report counts flights in both directions together: 1,247 between FCO and IAD from July 2025 to June 2026, about one departure a day in each direction, carrying 256,535 passengers. That makes it the 3rd busiest of 16 US routes from Rome Fiumicino and the 9th busiest of 20 European routes into IAD.
The departure airport
How Rome Fiumicino is running
EUROCONTROL's figures for Rome Fiumicino as a whole, every airline and every destination: 64.0% of departures and 76.0% of arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule from 1 January to 21 October 2026, with 96.8% of scheduled flights operated. The last seven days ran at 49.8% for departures, 14 points worse than the year so far. Air traffic flow management delay attributed to the airport averaged 0.1 minutes per arriving flight this year, 0.1 over the last week.
| Window | Departures on time | Arrivals on time | Schedules operated | ATFM delay / arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yesterday (21 October 2026) | 59.6% | 72.4% | 96.4% | 0.0 min |
| Last 7 days | 49.8% | 63.5% | 96.2% | 0.1 min |
| Year to date | 64.0% | 76.0% | 96.8% | 0.1 min |
Every US route from Rome Fiumicino, and its full punctuality record
The arrival airport
Landing at Washington Dulles International
Washington Dulles International is scored on this site from the DOT's domestic data: 81.0% of its 57,762 domestic departures arrived on time over the last twelve months, with delayed flights running a little over an hour late, and 1.44% were cancelled. Those are domestic flights, not this route, but an arriving transatlantic flight shares the same runways, the same weather and the same ground delay programmes, so a bad day at IAD reaches a flight from FCO just as surely. The airport's own page has the hour-by-hour and month-by-month detail, and its live FAA status appears above when the FAA has something to say.
Domestic on time
81.0%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late (DOT)
Avg delay
80 min
Delayed domestic flights only
Cancelled
1.44%
Domestic departures
57,762
Last twelve months
Washington Dulles International (IAD) delay statistics, hour by hour and month by month
Your rights
EC 261/2004 on FCO to IAD
Every flight that departs Rome Fiumicino falls under Regulation (EC) 261/2004, whichever airline flies it and wherever it lands. If it arrives at Washington Dulles International three hours or more late, or is cancelled with under 14 days' notice, and the cause was within the airline's control, each passenger is owed €600 (€300 if the airline got you there under four hours late), on top of rebooking and care. Weather, air traffic control restrictions and strikes outside the airline are the usual exemptions. The return flight from IAD is covered only when the carrier is EU based. The sector is about 4,494 miles, 7,231 km, which puts it in the top distance band.
Delayed three hours or more? Check a claim with Compensair →
What to do with this
Booking FCO to IAD
There is no grade to give FCO to IAD without a route record, and this site does not invent one. What the three sources support: about one departure a day in each direction, a choice of two carriers, a departure airport that gets 64% of its departures away on time and an arrival airport that runs 81% on time domestically. Leave two hours for any onward connection at IAD; immigration comes before the connecting flight.
Common questions
FCO to IAD questions
How often are FCO to IAD flights delayed?
No public dataset records delays for this route flight by flight: the US on-time database is domestic only and only the UK publishes route-level punctuality in Europe. The nearest measurements are the departure airport's EUROCONTROL punctuality (64.0% of departures within 15 minutes this year) and IAD's domestic record in the DOT data (81.0% on time).
Which airlines fly FCO to IAD?
United Airlines and ITA Airways, in order of flights operated between July 2025 and June 2026. United Airlines accounted for 79% of the 1,247 flights the DOT counted on the pair.
Can I claim compensation for a delayed FCO to IAD flight?
Yes, if the flight arrived three hours or more late or was cancelled at short notice for a reason within the airline's control: departures from Rome Fiumicino are covered by EC 261/2004 whichever airline operates them. The fixed amount for a sector of this length is €600 a passenger, €300 if the airline got you there under four hours late. The return from IAD is covered only on an EU carrier.
How many flights a day are there from FCO to IAD?
About one departure a day in each direction: the DOT counted 1,247 flights in both directions over twelve months, peaking at 172 in August 2025 and falling to 37 in January 2026.
Related
Where to go next
- Rome Fiumicino (FCO): every US route
- Washington Dulles International (IAD) delay statistics
- FCO to JFK, New York (JFK)3,990 flights
- FCO to ATL, Atlanta (ATL)1,355 flights
- FCO to EWR, Newark (EWR)1,213 flights
- FCO to ORD, Chicago (ORD)1,151 flights
- LHR to IAD, from London3,880 flights
- FRA to IAD, from Frankfurt2,352 flights
- DUB to IAD, from Dublin2,342 flights
- CDG to IAD, from Paris2,247 flights
- Every Europe-to-US route and airport
Italy publishes no route-level punctuality, so this page cannot grade the route. The UK pages in this section can, because the CAA does.
Sources: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, International Report (flights and passengers by carrier and airport pair), July 2025 to June 2026; EUROCONTROL Aviation Intelligence Portal, airport punctuality and ATFM delay to 21 October 2026. Rebuilt 22 October 2026; the EUROCONTROL figures refresh with each weekly build, the others when their publisher releases a month. How these sources differ.