Rome’s Fiumicino Airport to get a fourth runway, but should Milan Malpensa be Italy’s main gateway?

There are many north/south divides in the world; in the US, the UK and Korea to name three well-known ones.

The one in Italy is less well known outside that country, but is no less significant, pitching the generally poorer, older south of Italy - but which is home, on the periphery at least, to the capital, Rome - against the richer, hipper north, home to the commercial and fashion capital, Milan.

Rome is rooted in history and romance while Milan's penchant is for fashion houses. Both draw in large numbers of foreign tourists, with Rome in the lead.

Milan has a larger catchment area.

As the Italian government rubber stamps Aeroporti di Roma's master plan (of which there have been several in the last couple of decades), and in particular the scheme to build a fourth runway at Fiumicino Airport, Italy's busiest, that would put it back to where it was in 2011 - this is a pertinent time to question whether Rome should remain as the principal international gateway and hub for the country.

Capital cities usually are the location of such hubs, but not always, as Brazil, Canada, the USA, China and Australia demonstrate.

It would be a straight fight between Rome and Milan, and this report highlights the strengths and weaknesses in each case, concluding that capacity constraints in the heavily built-up northern Italy dictate that the only option for that region would be to build a new mega airport, a project that was mooted within the last decade.