Fire Closes Rome Airport

[Ansett]

Rome airport in chaos after fire tears through terminal - 9news.com.au


Good that no one was hurt

 

[Cossie]

Hmmmm, we are travelling through Rome in a months time, given that Fiumicino has a reputation for being chaotic at the best of times, I hope things will have returned to normal (by Italian standards, anyway) by then.

 

[clifford]

You might be lucky, but it was in need of renovation anyway.

It'll be interesting to see what has been done when we go in September. A building site I imagine.

 

[kevrosmith]

I fly out on EK mid-June, so will be interested to see what impact this will have. I noticed one of the daily EK flights turned back to DXB, and another was canceled, but other than some delays, things seem to be back on track flight-wise.

 

[amaroo]

Hopefully it might be half finished by the time we arrive in Dec

 

[Ho Really]

Cossie, Fiumicino is not as chaotic as some people make it out to be. The area where the fire broke out was in Terminal 3 Departures on the other side of passport control in the shopping strip that takes you to Gates G and H. It seems an electrical fault in Bar Gustavo (fourth shop on the right after passport control) started the fire. Several offices were also affected but only slightly. The real damage was done in the commercial area surrounding Bar Gustavo where 40 shops or 400sqm was destroyed. In total 1000sqm was affected by the fire and smoke. I'll be there in June as well. I would think the clean-up will be finished by then. Rebuilding will take longer of course.

 

[Ho Really]

It seems the airport is returning to some kind of normality. An access point to embarkation Gates G & H was opened in the early hours of Saturday (9 May) bypassing the damaged area. According to ADR (Aeroporti di Roma), 553 flights and 110,000 passengers arrived and departed Fiumicino by 17:00 Saturday.

 

[Ho Really]

Apologies for this late update. I had got back on June 18th and was going to fill you guys in on what had transpired at FCO. Was in and out of FCO all up on four occasions flying SQ and A3 so got to use T3 and T1. On arrival from SIN baggage delivery took 20-30 minutes. An arrival from YUL (Montreal) that landed later somehow snuck in and got priority! Walking out to the exit just before Customs I noticed an area behind carousels 10 and 11 boarded up. Just above this area is where the scanners and metal detectors are in Departures (on Level 1). On the day of my final departure from FCO I checked-in around counters 374-431. Here I had the opportunity to speak to the checkin operators about the conditions. Some were wearing dust masks. A security guard I recognised from a previous time at FCO avoided the mask. He said he didn’t want to fall asleep on the job. I was also told that 40 flights had been cancelled to alleviate congestion. Anyhow the place didn't smell that bad on first arrival two weeks earlier and since had got better. I had heard and seen TV reports about the acrid smell that was around in the days following the fire and the many protests from workers and unions. Mind you that was just over a month ago. Security Screening, Passport Control and access to Gates G and H were only around the corner. This point of access was there before the fire but was not used. I can't recall exactly how many metal detectors and scanners there were, maybe three all up. The others were located between checkin counters 225-248 and 201-224 where the screening and passport control was done before the fire. This area and the shopping strip is closed off. When I got through the access point you could only go left towards Gates G and H. If I were able to turn right I would be going back towards the main Passport Control and the e-gates.

I won’t go into detail about how the fire started etc., but I did read an interesting article in weekly magazine L’Espresso (18 June) given to me by one of the Singapore Girls. The article confirmed what a worker at FCO had alluded. That it was (in a nutshell) negligence. It is alleged that some electrical work was not carried through or completed. Examination of the ceilings also brought to light (pun not intended) the shonky workmanship of the electrical contractors on successive tenders. This also may have been the reason why the fire alarm system went off late, according to witnesses. Finally, in the area under investigation there was no sprinkler system installed! Regardless of all this, this has been a real setback for FCO at a time when they are trying to get things right, first by completing an extension to Terminal 3 with a new pier which had been delayed and the fast tracking of other expansion plans. As per usual things in Italy will drag on: investigations, courts, misappropriation, nepotism, favouritism and shonky work, etc.

Update: Molo D (Pier D) is operational from midnight July 18.