Not just Air Force Renzi, at Fiumicino the corpses of Alitalia's past
In recent days, the silhouette of Air Force Renzi, namely the Airbus A340 [...] has resurfaced on the home pages of some online newspapers.
Alitalia
FCO
In recent days, the silhouette of Air Force Renzi, or the Airbus A340 wanted by the former Italian prime minister to facilitate international travel for the Italian government, has resurfaced on the home pages of some online newspapers.
In this article:
At Fiumicino, however, there is more than just the former Etihad four-engine aircraft, indeed of the bodies, the plane wanted by Renzi is the one most hidden compared to the many planes abandoned in front of the hangars that were once Alitalia's.
In recent days there has been the signing of the agreement for Lufthansa's entry into the share capital of ITA Airways, but unlike the last few corporate changes this time. there was no talk of lightening the fleet; on the contrary, there was confirmation of a willingness to grow.
On the contrary In the other crises from early 2000 until its death in October 2021, Alitalia's fleet has always lightened, but while in some cases the lessors have taken back the decommissioned planes, other times the planes have been left to rot around Italy, particularly at Fiumicino.
The end of life for an aircraft
The practice of abandoning planes at airports is widespread throughout the world, However, there are airports that specialize in accommodating these aircraft and then proceed to dismantle them; other times, however, they are left on the runway to await decomposition, too bad that this is not a very fast thing.
For example, this photo shows some abandoned planes in the desert below the iconic Abu Dhabi control tower.
A380 and 747 parked for 4 years on the runway at Bangkok airport.
The situation at Fiumicino
If the asbestos alarm was raised in 2012, with MD80s abandoned at Fiumicino, since then the situation has only worsened. And crisis after crisis, Alitalia-owned planes that no longer fit into the plans of the new Alitalia ended up parked in some area, more or less remote, of the Roman airport.
Today the passengers of one of the best airports in the world can see a garbage dump just a few meters from the terminal. The same happens to all passengers arriving in Rome and ending their journey in the parking lots used by ITA and other airlines. These include, of course, the A340, which was a state plane for a few months.
