Did you know Rome Fiumicino was inaugurated in 1960 but only began scheduled civil flights in 1961?

Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport at Fiumicino was officially inaugurated by the President of the Italian Republic, Giovanni Gronchi, on 20 August 1960, but scheduled civil traffic only began in 1961, according to the history published by its operator, Aeroporti di Roma (ADR). Runways 1 and 2 entered service that year, and runway 3 followed in 1975.

The company that runs the airport is younger than the airport itself. ADR was founded on 12 February 1974 as a company controlled by the Ministry of Transport. Its privatisation began in 1997 and was completed in 2000, and Atlantia, now Mundys, entered its share capital in 2013. Fiumicino covers about 1,600 hectares, the same perimeter defined when ADR was created.

The terminals arrived in stages. Terminal 1 was completed in 2000 in connection with the Jubilee, and a new Terminal 5 was inaugurated in 2008 for flights to the United States and Israel. Boarding area E, added in 2016, can handle more than six million additional departing passengers a year. ADR reports 40.5 million passengers through Fiumicino in 2023, the same year it received a five-star Skytrax rating.

That layered growth helps explain why departures at Fiumicino are spread across different terminals and boarding areas. Before travelling, check your terminal and boarding area with your airline or on ADR’s official website, and allow time to reach the right one.