Aeroporti di Roma toughs out 2022, despite debacle of national carriers

The 'go-to' airports in Europe for those seeking information on the changing fortunes of air transport are most often the 'FLAP' airports (Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle). But there is value in examining the two Rome airports, which are in common ownership.

The larger, Fiumicino, caters to domestic, international and intercontinental flights but has never reached its potential, given the population it serves and the size of Italy's GDP. The smaller, Ciampino, the original Rome airport, now exists primarily to service Ryanair.

The protracted failure of Alitalia and the slow transfer to ITA (Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A.) as the flag carrier is one of the main reasons that Rome is not a more significant aviation city. But Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) is investing for a much bigger future, with Fiumicino extended, to be able to handle 100 mppa by 2046, at a cost of more than EUR8 billion.

In the short term the financial statement for FY2022 for AdR is better than might have been expected, given how badly hit Italy was by the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020.