American Airlines Flight to Naples Diverts to Rome After Using Larger-Than-Usual Aircraft

A transatlantic American Airlines flight was diverted to Rome on Tuesday, forcing passengers to continue their journey to Naples by bus, after the airline apparently used an aircraft too large for the destination airport.

Flight 780, which departed Philadelphia on Monday at 7:42 p.m., was scheduled to land in Naples at 10 a.m. local time. However, Flightradar24 data shows that seven hours later, the Boeing 787-9 abruptly changed course over the Tyrrhenian Sea, west of Italy, when it was just 70 miles from Naples International Airport. Instead, it proceeded to Rome Fiumicino Airport.

An American Airlines spokesperson said the diversion was due to "operational limitations." The airline typically operates flights to Naples with the smaller Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. While both models have the same wingspan, the 787-9 is about 20 feet longer.

Documents from Boeing and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) indicate that this difference requires distinct rescue and firefighting service (RFFS) categories. While the 787-8 can land at airports with RFFS Category 8, the 787-9 requires Category 9. AviationWeek data suggests Naples Airport only meets Category 8 standards.

Aviation enthusiast @xJonNYC reported on X (formerly Twitter) that Naples airport authorities confirmed the 787-9 is not authorized to land there.

After landing in Rome around 9:45 a.m., passengers were bused to Naples in a journey lasting over two hours. "We apologize for the disruption," the American Airlines spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the same Boeing 787-9 departed Rome two and a half hours later, operating Flight 111 to Chicago.

This was not the only recent diversion resulting in a bus transfer. On Wednesday, a Ryanair flight was forced to land in Memmingen, Germany, due to a storm that caused severe turbulence, injuring eight people. Passengers were then bused to Milan in a roughly four-and-a-half-hour trip.

Have you experienced a recent flight diversion?