FCO facing increased traffic with the current Alitalia network

With the recent transfer of the 70% of the Alitalia flights from Milan Malpensa (MXP) to Rome Fiumicino, FCO has been experiencing an increased amount of traffic. According to the ENAC (Ente Nazionale Aviazione Civile, National Civil Aviation Agency), during the first days of the new Alitalia network, between 94.000 and 110.000 passengers have transited from FCO airport with around 1100 daily movements (some 150 flights above the average in this period). With nearly 33 milion passengers served in 2007 and expected growth of 11%, should the Alitalia keep operating until the end of the year, the main Italian airport could reach 40 mln passengers by the beginning of year 2009. Since the future of the airline is uncertain, I went to Fiumicino to witness the increase of air traffic and to watch some of the recently moved AZ B.777 flights departing from the Leonardo Da Vinci airport.

About David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.