In the chaotic Termini station, the largest in Rome, between the counters of the rental car companies and the food stalls of the central market, a screen indicates the schedules and status of the next flights departing from the Roman airport of Fiumicino. Starting this week, Rome airport has become one of the first in Europe to have luggage check-in counters in the city center. All it takes is for passengers to show up at least three and a half hours before their flight at the Termini station, hand them in, showing their documentation and forget about their luggage to continue with their visit to Rome for the rest of the day and get on the plane later.
Rome is not the first city to carry out this initiative. Aena already did it in Madrid, which installed a check-in and luggage transport service from the Nuevos Ministerios station to the Barajas airport, but it only operated for five years, until 2007, due to the lack of demand. Vienna also offers it, in a slightly different way: it is only for Austrian Airlines passengers who have a train ticket. There are similar services in Abu Dhabi, with Etihad Airways; in New Delhi, with Air India; or in Kuala Lumpur, with Malaysia Airlines. But until now, no Italian airport put it on the table.
In this case, Rome Airports has partnered for this service with Ita Airways, the new Italian flag airline, born from the ashes of the old Alitalia, which had to reconvert after years of economic losses. At the moment, Termini check-in counters are only available for this company’s flights except for those heading to the United States or Israel, due to a matter of protocols. The idea is to open it to other airlines in the future. Once the suitcases have been delivered, vans – with sustainable fuel, they point out – will be in charge of taking them to the corresponding planes in Fiumicino. In the future, if all goes well, they could change this method to trains. Right now, there is already a direct train line that connects Termini station with the airport.
The objective of all this is to make life easier for passengers who want to spend the day in Rome and go directly to the airport, or for those who, arriving by train from other Italian cities, intend to spend a day without spending the night in the capital. “We want to bring the services of Fiumicino airport to the heart of Rome, a great novelty in Italy and in Europe with which we intend to improve the travel experience of thousands of passengers who pass through Leonardo da Vinci airport every day, the first gate of entry to our country,” said the CEO of Rome Airports, Marco Troncone, in the presentation. The Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, a member of the Brothers of Italy, highlighted that it is necessary for trains and airports to join forces instead of being seen as a “threat” and said that her country seeks to increase “quality” tourist flows. “Whoever can make this type of trip has a certain spending capacity and this is the type of tourism that our nation needs,” she added.
The question is whether Rome is prepared to further increase tourist flows, since the presentation takes place on the eve of the Jubilee of 2025, a huge Catholic event that, according to the Rome City Council, will bring more than 32 million pilgrims to the Italian capital. looking for an indulgence. In 2023, the Italian capital has already reached its historical maximum number of tourists, with 35 million visitors sleeping in the capital. Right now, the entire city is full of works to prepare for this event, especially around the Vatican. Fiumicino airport was the busiest in Italy last year, with more than 40 million passengers, followed by Malpensa airport in Milan, with more than 26 million.
