Rome Fiumicino Airport

Rome Fiumicino is such a disappointment. Its a chaotic confusing and most unattractive airport. It takes ages before your luggage arrives and it seems that each suitcase of every inbound flight is dumped on the same luggage belt. In summer it can be very hot and sticky in the terminals as the air-conditioning systems are either not working or lacks on capacity . Employees seem not to be very motivated (no wonder when working the whole day in such an environment). Even at the business class check in counter (we flew Swiss) employees seemed to be ignorant and unfriendly. Be prepared to spend extra time in queues for security control as these can be very long. Passing security won't really give you a more secured feeling as officers seems to have more eye for each others then for the passengers luggage content. When you are lucky you might have some time left prior boarding to visit some shops. Shopping facilities at Rome Fiumicino are fair but nothing extraordinary. Unless you really have to be in Rome try to avoid this airport on any connecting flights at all costs.

International arrival with transfer to international departure (Terminal G). Unfortunately FCO uses buses into which pax are crammed for transport to the terminal. Not a pleasant experience. Poor directional signs for transfers and an airport that has non-existent climate control. Arrived in the morning with an early afternoon departure. It is not an airport where one wants to spend too much time especially when the AC is not effective. There are absolutely no clocks anywhere in the G structure. Not on the flight info directory and not on a wall. No functioning free wifi either. It makes it difficult if one relies on a mobile device and not a watch. On the upside the facility was relatively clean and well organized.

I have just flown back from Rome and travelled from Fiumicino Airport I had a very disappointing experience of being charged 2 Euros for using a trolley to carry my luggage within the airport. I would like to know if anybody has come across a disgraceful incident like this in other countries.

Arrived at Terminal 3 and easy connection for departure with Alitalia from Terminal 1. Terminal 3 needs a facelift asap. Apart from that everything went smoothly facility was clean signs were clear staff were helpful. Plenty of places to eat or have a drink. Duty Free shop have some good offers and staff there were very nice.

Flew with Swiss to and from Rome. Disembarkation was quick but the walk was not always very well signposted. If you are a seasoned traveller it was fine but I could see many who seemed lost. Airport looks old and is not very nice to be in. Luggage took a long time but after that was out quickly and got a taxi. Return arrived at a crowded terminal but the Swiss check-in desk was empty. Could use fast track security but even that was so slow and tedious. Ground staff unorganised when it comes to handling boarding as everybody was boarded at the same time together with three passengers in wheel chairs. This created a long line before one could enter the plane. It is certainly not an airport one wants to use on a regular basis.

The worst airport I have ever travelled to - there is no signage T3 in need of dire upgrades. Security and passport control alone took almost 2 hours to queue in. Could not believe that as an international terminal handling flights like Emirates A380 they still have 1 metal detector for every 2 luggage x-rays. and they didn't even have all lanes open. Passport control had only 4 lanes open. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time especially when going to a G gate you have to take the train to the pier.

I have flown many times through this airport it's easy to reach thanks to the numerous taxies and buses and the two train's lines that connect it to the centre of Rome. Sometimes there are queues at check-in but not too long like others airports I've travelled through. Inside FCO airport there are many shops and places where you can eat something you can easily move inside it thanks to the many indications on the signs located around the structure. It is a nice airport to use.

There are good points and many bad points. Good points are based mostly on connection to/from Rome itself for which there are numerous trains including non-stop Leonardo Express. Regional train is cheaper than non-stop service takes you station by station along the way which can get cramped. Airport is expansive with numerous shops and restaurants. However good things start to dry up at this point. Departure screens do not show the current time clocks are few and far between. The layout of check-in desks are such that queues of people soon clump together into great crowds. Security checks are a shambles - snaking queues in all directions which lead into the one same narrow corridor.

Travel to and from the centre of Rome is good several bus companies offer return tickets for €8 which is good value though the time depends on the traffic (should be 45 minutes). Airport itself is chaotic very long queues for passport checking on arrival (and when I reached the front the officer did not even glance at mine). On departure Terminal 3 security took 30 minutes to clear. There was then a very long walk and short train ride to the departure gate. One good point was that we went straight from having boarding cards checked to sitting on the aircraft so the crush that often develops in the aisles did not. There is a huge number of shops but I doubt if most people have time to use them also if prices at the snack bar are indicative they are extremely expensive.

Took 50 mins to get through the unbelievably slow queue for security and just barely made the flight; some didn't emerge from the mess and there was a further delay while their luggage was taken out of the hold. Staff were indifferent to the evident distress of people including young children and elderly people. Only one checkpoint open - why?