Rome Fiumicino Airport

The ladies toilets at Rome airport have got to be the most disgusting I have encountered. On arrival on an early flight the toilets were so disgusting I could not use them. The smell was revolting. The majority of the cubicles were out of order. Of those that weren't the floors were littered with soiled toilet paper and toilet bowls filthy. Although there seemed to be cleaning equipment outside the toilets there was no evidence of anyone cleaning them.

This place is a tale of two airports. The international terminal or T-5 is very acceptable in terms of comfort and cleanliness. It took a while to get the bags. This is not uncommon and much of it has to do with the rather poisonous labor relations in Italy. Getting through customs was a snap. Now the domestic side terminals could definitely use a steam cleaning and there wasn't much in the way of food there.

After a flight from YUL with Air Transat I arrived in Terminal C. You can tell it is not a modern 21st century terminal but authorities are doing their best. Baggage carousel a little slow to unload but very friendly multilingual staff are polite and willing to help. Check-in was reasonable only 10 minutes. Area near the gate and duty-free is in need of major cleaning but reasonable choice. I can recommend this airport for passengers who want an airport with great staff and quick operations and aren't expecting a 5 star glamorous terminal

This is an excellent airport choice nowadays for those flights departing directly to the US and/or Israel. FCO airport authority has moved all departing US flights to a new Terminal T5. If you traveled to this airport in the past you'll remember the horrible lines and wait times at the US carriers' check-in area in old Terminal C. With T5 you breeze right through check-in with your US/Israeli airline and breeze through security and immigration with no problems. A bus then takes you to the departure lounge at the Satellite of Terminal C. Make sure to tell your cab driver that you are flying out of T5 or on a US airline so they won't drop you at old Terminal C! It's difficult to get from the old terminals to T5. Once you get into the Satellite there is a ton of Duty Free!

It really wasn't bad. Nothing particularly glamorous but I didn't see trash all about the floors or bathrooms in a state of disrepair. The food options were decent as well.

FCO-DUB. I like Fiumicino. Use it quite a bit. Easy to get to from Termini reasonably quick check in. Plenty of shops and helpful staff. It's a good airport as such places go.

Busy like one would expect. I didn't however expect it to be so dirty. Everything looked old and worn. The ladies' room near our gate (no idea what it was) was a disgrace. There were trash all over the floor because the trashcans were overflowing. Weird how such a big airport with so much traffic can be so disgusting.

Birmingham into Fiumicino Airport. No problems luggage came through very quickly and we were away. The return journey was a disaster. After queuing for 1hr and 20 minutes to check in we were told our flight was delayed by 3 hours - these things happen and we accepted this and were directed to Gate C23 and given a voucher for refreshments. We went through security and caught the shuttle to gate C23. Refreshment bar was just closing as we arrived and we got pizza and coffee by the skin of our teeth. Just as we sat down to eat we were informed that we had to go back to gate C11. We tried to find the shuttle to return but the airport was closing (11pm) by now and we couldn't find any signs or anyone to ask our way back. Eventually an airport cleaner pointed us in the right direction and we got the shuttle back. We then had to go through security again! Finally sat down exhausted. After about another 1/2 hour an announcement told us to go to gate 36. Eventually we were piled on to the airport bus to go out to board the plane. We were kept on the bus for about 15 minutes doors kept closed and no explanation for the wait and suddenly the bus turnwed round and we were taken back to the terminal where we were kept on the bus for another 10 minutes before being allowed to get off and enter the building again. No explanation other than 'There is a problem with the Company' was given. Eventually after 4.5 hours of waiting we boarded the plane and took off back to Birmingham. What a farce and to put the icing on the cake when we all went to the Carousel to pick up our luggage we were told that no luggage had been put on the plane. Again no explanation no one at Fiumicino Airport had told us that our luggage had not been loaded. I presume that as the Airport appeared to have completely closed down at 11pm there were no baggage handlers available to load the luggage on the plane! I have to say that the staff in the airport that we did meet before it closed were very unhelpful they obviously wanted to get home.

I flew into this airport from LHR and it was very busy. The train connecting arrivals to baggage collection was crowded as only one was working. Baggage arrival very slow. There was a large queue at passport control as their signposting is unclear as to who should be in what queue. The return journey was better we did self service check-in at the BA desk and it was then very quick through security and to the departure lounge. We used the flightplan lounge which was ok but fairly busy. Their duty free shops are not too bad and staff were helpful. Boarding the aircraft was a bit of a free for all but all in all the experience on the way home was okay.

Used FCO twice during October: both times queues for security departing Terminal B (International) were horrendous on a par with Heathrow: allow at least 30 minutes for this and remain patient when others queue-jump. If you wait until your flight shows as 'boarding' on the screens you might not make it through security on time. Check-in desks seem to open promptly 2 hours before the scheduled time of departure and not a minute before: check-in staff do not appear to be competent so allow for a long wait here. However check-in desk locations are shown in advance of them opening so if you arrive early stake your place in the line. Otherwise a crowded rather average airport: delays on arrival of baggage when arriving and few signs advising you of which terminal you need to be at to find your flight when in transit.