Fiumicino on record, Rome Airports CAO Ivan Bassato speaks: "We are 'ahead' by three years"
2024 was the year of records for Rome Fiumicino Airport: records for number of passengers transited in a [...]
FCO
2024 was the year of records for Rome Fiumicino airport: record for number of passengers transited in one year, 49.2 million; record for number of passengers transited in a single day, approx. 180 thousand; record for year-on-year growth, with an increase in traveler traffic of 21.3% compared with 2023 (best among the top 100 airports in Europe for the latter figure). All this with the hub carrier (ITA Airways) still undergoing consolidation (in terms of fleet and network).
In this article:
The Flight Club spoke about the 'Fiumicino phenomenon' with one of Aeroporti di Roma's most experienced managers, chief aviation officer (CAO) Ivan Bassato.
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"Look, we planned to get close to the 'psychological threshold' of 50 million passengers in 2028, instead we will exceed it already this year. We can therefore say that we are 'ahead' of estimates by three years. Which of course makes us extremely proud, but it inevitably puts pressure on us because it brings closer steps that we thought we would put in place later."
To what factors do you attribute this 'boom'?
"There is a broader component that has seen in the post-pandemic period airports in southern Europe grow much faster than those in northern Europe, which in some cases have not yet recovered to 2019 traffic levels. Then there is the 'Rome factor,' which remains one of the world's three to four iconic cities, one of those destinations where anyone in the world who can afford it wants to go once in a lifetime. Suffice it to say that Fiumicino's percentage growth over 2023 was double that of two other southern European cities, which also did very well, such as Madrid and Barcelona. That said, we had new carriers debuting here in 2024, others increasing frequencies and destinations and, in many cases, using more capacious machine."
To what extent did the different markets (domestic, European, long-range) contribute percentages to the 2024 result?
"It is the international volumes that drove Fiumicino's traffic in 2024: 79% of the total traffic, with Europe covering about 54% of Fiumicino's traffic and long-haul traffic covering about 21% of the total traffic and with respect to which we set what is a record for us, with 10.2 million passengers. Domestic traffic occupied a share of 21%. The remainder relates to non-European short-haul international traffic, which accounts for 4% of Fiumicino's total traffic."
Which markets globally are 'pulling the most' on the Fiumicino destination?
"In 2024 leading the long haul performance was North America, with a sustained growth in volumes compared to 2023 of 20% and 2019 of 34%, connected to Rome from as many as 16 cities, including New York, a route on which in July we counted up to twelve daily departures, counting both those from JFK and Newark, which placed Fiumicino in third place in Europe for frequency of flights to the "Big Apple," right after London Heathrow and Paris Charles De Gaulle. We also recorded excellent performances on the Far East, a market that recorded the highest growth in absolute value, marking an increase in traffic of 51% compared to the previous year and where ITA Airways activated in November the route to Bangkok".
He also talked about the 'entry' of new carriers...
"We had Bangladesh Biman Airlines, which after a nine-year absence reactivated the route to Dhaka, as well as T'Way Air, which has activated the non-stop flight to Seoul since August, and Uzbekistan Airlines, which has returned to operations to Tashkent, after a hiatus dictated by the 2019 pandemic. Finally, we recorded the return of Air Mauritius and the opening, from December 2024, of the route to Muscat operated by Oman Air".
What were the top three carriers by traffic?
"In that order ITA Airways, Ryanair, and Wizz Air together accounted for over 26 million passengers, about 53% of the total traffic in 2024. ITA Airways alone counts for 26% of the total traffic."
New airlines and new long-haul routes planned for Summer 2025 and Winter 2025-2026?
"The North American offering will grow further with the introduction of two new destinations starting in May: Denver and Minneapolis operated by Delta Airlines and United Air Lines, respectively. There will also be Miami and Los Angeles by American Airlines and Norwegian Norse Atlantic. On the eastern side, the offer will be enriched with. Cathay Pacific's new flight to Hong Kong starting in June and Emirates' third daily flight to Dubai. Finally, from November will be possible to reach Mauritius with ITA Airways' new connection. All this while waiting to see what developments the closing between ITA and the Lufthansa Group will have for our 'home' airline's network in the months ahead, from which we expect a special focus on South America and Africa."
The current year is the Jubilee year--do you expect another double-digit year-on-year growth?
"We still expect very strong growth, as the numbers from this early year are already indicating, but lower than last year. Our forecast is that we will stay between 5 and 10% higher than in 2024, and total traffic up to a maximum of 53 million passengers."
Numbers you manage to make with a traveler approval rating that is among the highest in Europe and the world...
"Yes, for years now Fiumicino has ranked among the best airports in the world, both According to rating agencies such as Skytrax, both according to passengers themselves. According to the Airport Service Quality, or ASQ, survey by Airport Council International (ACI) World, which involves hundreds of interviews per quarter, we are the best in Europe since 2017, with an index of 4.61 on a scale of 1 to 5."
