Rome Fiumicino Airport Awarded at the 2018 Airport Council International (ACI) Annual Meeting

Rome Fiumicino Airport has been recently awarded two prestigious international awards, namely “Best Airport Award 2018” and “Airport Service Quality Award” on the occasion of the 2018 Airport Council International (ACI) Annual Meeting in Brussels. The awards have been assigned by a pool of experts comprising of representatives from the European Commission, the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), the European Travel Association and Eurocontrol. Fiumicino Airport, which was included in the sub-category of airports with more than 25 million passengers, was in direct competition with other major European airports such as London Heatrow, Oslo Gardermoen, Barcelona El Prat and Copenhagen Kastrup. In addition, Fiumicino Airport has also been awarded the SkyTrax awards as “World’s Most Improved Airport” and “4 Stars Airport” for the year 2018, as a proof of its recent vertical development. Such growth is in large part due to the implementation of the so-called Atlantia Programme, adopted in 2014, with the aim of increasing the comfort and cleanliness of the airport facilities, as well as enhancing the security and rendering passport controls faster and seamless. The achievement of these objectives has also allowed Fiumicino Airport to attract new international airlines, offering new routes and planning the opening of new commercial areas within the terminals. The CEO of Aeroporti di Roma has welcomed the global recognition but also warned that “There is still a lot of work to do because an airport as big and important as Fiumicino is can improve only thanks to a daily commitment.” In 2017 Fiumicino Airport has had a traffic of more than 40 million passengers, which makes it as the largest Italian airport by far (followed by Milan Malpensa with more than 22 million passengers).

This article was written by Francesco Grassetti, Associate with Studio Pierallini, and published in the September 2018 issue of Aviation Journal.