Fiumicino airport (Rome)

[sovilav01]

We just came back from Rome and it was chaotic. We arrived at terminal 3 as showed on our booking but we had to transfer to terminal 5. We had to go through two security check points and it takes a long time. We arrived at the airport at 8:30 and got to the gate at 10:30. There is not a lot of indications because this is temporarly after the fire at terminal 3. We were travelling on air Canada but some american airlines are also transfered. So allow you a lot of time and if you Want to do some shopping , don't count on this terminal.:eek:

[BBMacLaird]

Hi Solvilav01, thanks for sharing your experience re. navigating the Rome airport. Sounds like good advice to allow a lot of time!

[Phxazzcruisers]

Yes, this happened to me also. Always check your terminal on the day your flight leaves so you do not have to play terminal chase from one to the other

[bee-ess]

Our British Airways filight to Rome is cancelled for this Saturday. We have to fly to Naples and transfer to Civi. Ba have cancelled many flights to Rome over this weekend. They use Terminal 3 so wonder if it is closed this weekend.

[cruisemom42]

Flights direct to US on US carriers (as well as flights to Israel) have all been routed through Terminal 5 for several years now.

 

It's well advised to allow plenty of time at FCO. I wouldn't recommend less than 2.5 hours and 3 hours is probably better.

 

That said, from the time I was dropped off at Terminal 5, I don't think it took me more than an hour to reach my final boarding gate a couple of weeks ago.

 

I noticed that Air Canada was there at Terminal 5 also when I went through on June 1st. I wasn't sure if that was new or if they had been there previously.

[Keith1010]

This is why I always recommend arriving very early to this airport.

 

It can be very chaotic.

 

We were there last week.

 

Also there had been a fire there a few weeks ago.

 

Keith

[Hlitner]

So, lets discuss Terminal 5! This is a remote terminal which is simply a place for check-ins for most flights heading non-stop to North America. If you take a cruise line shuttle bus they may drop everyone at Terminal 3 which means you then have to catch another bus (which is free) over to terminal 5 and drag all your own luggage! However, if you book a private transfer (such as from Romecabs) you will generally pay less then the cruise line shuttle, get faster service, and you can simply have your driver drop you right at the Terminal 5 entrance! For those thinking about private transfers we recommend getting together with a few others on your Roll Call board. Personally, we usually reserve a vehicle/driver with Romecabs (you do this online) and limit our little group to 4 other folks (who we find on the Roll Call). Our vehicle can carry 8 but having only 6 means more room, a little less hassle, and only a slight per person cost increase (still cheaper then cruise line transfers). But we have also done it with 8 folks when we could not say no to the last couple :)

 

Hank

Edited June 12, 2015 by Hlitner

[slidergirl]

So, lets discuss Terminal 5! This is a remote terminal which is simply a place for check-ins for most flights heading non-stop to North America. If you take a cruise line shuttle bus they may drop everyone at Terminal 3 which means you then have to catch another bus (which is free) over to terminal 5 and drag all your own luggage! However, if you book a private transfer (such as from Romecabs) you will generally pay less then the cruise line shuttle, get faster service, and you can simply have your driver drop you right at the Terminal 5 entrance! For those thinking about private transfers we recommend getting together with a few others on your Roll Call board. Personally, we usually reserve a vehicle/driver with Romecabs (you do this online) and limit our little group to 4 other folks (who we find on the Roll Call). Our vehicle can carry 8 but having only 6 means more room, a little less hassle, and only a slight per person cost increase (still cheaper then cruise line transfers). But we have also done it with 8 folks when we could not say no to the last couple :)

 

Hank

 

Little correction to Hank's posting. If you are not flying a US-based or Canada-based flight nonstop to the US (or a flight to Israel), you may not have to do the T5 dance. Example: if you fly on Alitalia metal, say FCO-JFK, you do the checkin/security probing, etc, in T3.

OP: was this booking from an TA/Cruise Air/3rd party site other than directly with Air Canada's website or phone lines? It could be that they were negligent in noting for you that, even though the flight really departs from a gate in T3, you had to checkin at T5 because it was a Canadian-based airline flying nonstop to North America.

Edited June 12, 2015 by slidergirl

[bcnvcanada]

We used British Airways, and we just glad that our flight was not

cancelled or sent to another location in Italy. We did arrived, had to

walk down the stairs, old type of roll out steps. We were on the tarmac

and waited there for our case, which were unloaded on the tarmac. With

cases in hand we went over to an area for entrance. We understand

that since the fire, this is oft time how it is done. There were some help

for people in wheelchairs, but everyone else was on their own. It all

works out, but you have to have some patience.

[euro cruiser]

I think that's the key point, post-fire and throughout the rebuilding things are going to be hard to predict and the only thing we can do is be flexible and roll with it.

[Ferndale Girl]

I think that's the key point, post-fire and throughout the rebuilding things are going to be hard to predict and the only thing we can do is be flexible and roll with it.

 

Any idea of how long it will take to get it rebuilt???

[lydnsyd]

Our British Airways filight to Rome is cancelled for this Saturday. We have to fly to Naples and transfer to Civi. Ba have cancelled many flights to Rome over this weekend. They use Terminal 3 so wonder if it is closed this weekend.

 

The airport has asked Airlines to cut back flights by up to 40% until 24th June ...that is a lot of flights.

 

A good website to check for airline travel disruptions is easytravelreport.com

[Twickenham]

Any idea of how long it will take to get it rebuilt???

 

It's Italy - I think we can safely say years...

[Hlitner]

It's Italy - I think we can safely say years...

 

Like:D and unfortunately all too true.

[Chloe1500]

In Fiumicino Airport right now and no problems whatsoever. Flying Lufthansa so perhaps it varies by the carrier. Checked in at terminal 3 after a wait of 10-15 minutes in line and off to Terminal 1 for a security check--very fast. Now I'm early for my flight! And I should add that I arrived about 8:15 am for a 10:15 am flight to Frankfurt.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Chloe1500

[slidergirl]

In Fiumicino Airport right now and no problems whatsoever. Flying Lufthansa so perhaps it varies by the carrier. Checked in at terminal 3 after a wait of 10-15 minutes in line and off to Terminal 1 for a security check--very fast. Now I'm early for my flight! And I should add that I arrived about 8:15 am for a 10:15 am flight to Frankfurt.

 

Intra-Schengen flights are handled differently than TATL flights. You were staying within the zone that has been established as not needing passport controls and customs. Think flying JFK-ATL vs JFK-FCO. You only had the security check, not the exit procedures where you go through passport control.