Rome Fiumicino: 51 Million Passengers, 1.1% Growth So Far in 2026 and a €9 Billion Plan No One Has Approved

Fiumicino carried 22% of Italy's air passengers in 2025

ENAC's 2025 executive summary gives Fiumicino 50,872,356 passengers, first among Italy's 44 commercial airports. The table shows growth of 4.5% and the text says 4%. ENAC counts passengers arriving and departing on scheduled and charter flights and leaves out direct transit passengers, who stay on board. It counted 433,630 such transits at Fiumicino in 2025, down 15.7%. Including them, ENAC puts Fiumicino at 51.3 million. Domestic passengers numbered about 10 million, 14% of Italy's domestic traffic, and ENAC says the domestic figure fell.

Assaeroporti publishes a second series that includes direct transit. Its 2025 table, as republished by Italiavola & Travel on 4 February 2026, gives Fiumicino 51,306,744 passengers, against 49,203,734 in 2024. That is growth of 4.27% (derived). ENAC's figure plus its transits comes to 51,305,986, within 758 passengers of the Assaeroporti count (derived). The two series agree once their definitions are lined up. They should still not be mixed in one comparison.

A passenger in both series is one arrival or one departure. A round trip counts twice, and a passenger connecting at Fiumicino counts once arriving and once departing. These are airport movements of people, not visitors to Rome. No Italian source publishes Fiumicino's passengers split into residents and visitors or by nationality. For the national picture, see a separate report on Italy's airport traffic in 2025.

The longer run shows how much the airport has grown since the pandemic. ENAC counted 43,354,887 passengers at Fiumicino in 2019, 22.7% of the national total, in its 2019 traffic report. The 2025 count is 17.3% higher on the same basis (derived). Records continued into 2026. ItaliaOggi reported on 27 October 2026 a daily record of 185,000 passengers on 16 August 2026.

The two series and the 2026 slowdown

Assaeroporti's statistics page, read on 1 November 2026, carries the January–September 2026 figures. Fiumicino handled 39,688,456 passengers, up 1.1%. Aircraft movements rose 0.6% to 249,030. Cargo rose 6.8% to 219,845 tonnes. The page footnotes the Fiumicino and Ciampino rows "Fonte: Aeroporti 2030". Italy's 41 reporting airports handled 187,124,810 passengers, up 5.5%, and movements rose 4.7%.

The gap widened at the end of summer. In September 2026 Fiumicino handled 4,903,208 passengers, up 0.6%, while the national total rose 6.5% to 23,928,665. Fiumicino's share of Italy's passengers fell from about 22.1% in January–September 2025 to 21.2% in the same months of 2026 (both derived). In September its share was 20.5% (derived).

Measured in passengers, Fiumicino added about 432,000 in the first nine months of 2026, against about 9.76 million for Italy (both derived from Assaeroporti's percentages, which are rounded to one decimal place). That is about 4.4% of the national gain. Milan Malpensa, the second-largest airport, grew 0.9%. Together the two airports held 34.1% of passengers and produced about 6.6% of the gain (derived).

No source states why Fiumicino slowed. Assaeroporti's release of 30 October 2026 gives only national context. Its director general, Valentina Menin, said the outlook could be affected by the geopolitical situation and by airlines' choices of routes and frequencies, including in response to fuel costs. The release says tensions limited links with key Middle East markets and changed routings between Europe and Asia. It does not mention Fiumicino or any other single airport. Those are general and forward-looking statements, and this report does not treat them as an explanation of Fiumicino's figure.

One airline does offer a reason, and it has a stake in the answer. On 20 January 2026 Ryanair's chief executive, Eddie Wilson, said Rome "will not record any growth in 2026" and blamed the municipal passenger surcharge, a cap on flights at Ciampino and rising ADR charges. On 1 October 2026 Ryanair announced a winter 2026 schedule for Rome "without growth" for the same reasons. Ryanair is a party to the charges dispute. Its statements describe its own capacity decisions and do not measure the airport's traffic.

The expectation reported for ADR sits between the two. Il Faro Online, reporting Troncone's speech, says 52 million to 53 million passengers are expected in 2026. That would mean growth of about 1.4% to 3.3% on the 2025 Assaeroporti count (derived). Il Faro does not say which series the figure uses. For context on where Italy's 2026 growth did go, see our 2026 tourism record watch.

What the €9 billion plan contains

The plan is called the Piano di Sviluppo Sostenibile, or sustainable development plan, of Rome Fiumicino. Press reports also call it Masterplan 2046. It was drawn up by ADR and developed with ENAC, according to Primapagina News on 24 September 2026. ENAC and ADR presented it on 9 December 2025, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. The same day a study of its economic effects was presented at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome, according to Milano Finanza.

The figures most often quoted are ADR's. The total is about €9 billion. ADR describes about €4 billion as maintenance of existing infrastructure and about €5 billion as new works, according to Primapagina News on 19 June and 24 September 2026. Troncone called the investment "entirely self-financed and at no cost to the State" at an economic forum in Rome, reported by Il Faro Online on 28 October 2026. An ADR agreement with four transport unions, signed in October 2026, repeats the €9 billion "without public funds," according to Radiocor on 29 October 2026. Mundys's 2025 annual report, as read for this report, does not give a cost figure for the plan.

The physical works are described in the debate material reported by Primapagina News. They include a new terminal with 76 gates in the east of the airport and a fourth runway parallel to runway 3. Runway 1 would be shortened and used only for landings at certain times of day. ADR claims the new layout would cut the population exposed to aircraft noise by up to 80%. About 85 hectares would become a public archaeological park. The Comune di Fiumicino puts the expansion at about 267 hectares, of which 150 lie inside the Litorale Romano state nature reserve. It says aircraft movements would rise from about 375,000 to about 500,000 a year by 2046.

Two details are reported differently. ItaliaOggi reported on 27 October 2026 that Troncone set 2033 as the deadline for the new runway. Il Faro's report of his speech the next day gives no date. Mundys's report says works on the airport development plan are scheduled to start in early 2028. The 100 million target is described in the press as Fiumicino's. Mundys's report describes it as traffic at the Rome airports, which would include Ciampino.

The economic claims come from the Luiss study. Milano Finanza reported up to €70 billion of cumulative added value for Italy (discounted at 3%), about 300,000 jobs over the project's life, 10,000 construction jobs by 2030 and a cost of about €2 billion for each year of delay. Radiocor cites 67,100 new jobs in Lazio. The study was prepared by Luiss's Franco Fontana research center and curated by Enzo Peruffo and Alberto Petrucci. The reports read for this article do not say who commissioned it.

Opponents read the money differently. The Comitato FuoriPista, a local residents' committee, said in a note reported by Fiumicino Online on 19 April 2026 that about €9 billion matches the projected revenue from boarding fees to 2046 under the 2012 ADR–ENAC contract. It also questioned whether €4 billion of maintenance should count as investment. That is the committee's reading. Neither ADR nor ENAC has published a financing breakdown that would confirm or refute it. Environmental groups including WWF, Legambiente, Italia Nostra, LIPU and FAI oppose the use of reserve land, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. A Youtrend poll of 1,005 adult residents of Fiumicino found 73% in favor and 16% opposed, according to Primapagina News. The article does not say who commissioned the poll.

The approval ladder: one municipal vote and a public debate

The first verifiable step came on 13 January 2026. The Fiumicino city council approved a proposal to redraw the boundary of the Litorale Romano state nature reserve, according to the municipality's press release. The council attached conditions. They include a new bridge over the Arrone river, an extension from five to ten years of ADR's annual payment of 0.5% of its profits to the municipality, a health study with the local health authority ASL Roma 3 and a technical committee chaired by the mayor. Mayor Mario Baccini said in the release that it is now for the Government to decide the next steps. The release gives no vote count.

The second step is a public debate. It opened on 23 September 2026, according to Primapagina News, and is run by Andrea Pillon of the consultancy Avventura Urbana. Three meetings were planned in the municipality in October and November. The debate ends with a final report, and ADR is then expected to publish its response before later design phases. The Lazio regional government publicized the debate on 1 October 2026. Its page describes the plan as a response to the time when existing and already programmed capacity will no longer be enough.

The rest of the ladder has no published decision. This report found no ENAC approval of the 2046 plan, no environmental impact assessment by the Environment Ministry (MASE), no act by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and no CIPESS resolution. The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, said in June 2026 that "Fiumicino needs a fourth runway," according to Primapagina News. That is a statement of support and not an approval. Troncone asked at the same event for permits to move at a pace "at least equal to that of market growth." In September 2025, in an interview with Radiocor published by Il Sole 24 Ore English on 8 September, he said ADR was waiting for a green light from the Government.

History explains the caution. In October 2019 the national VIA/VAS technical commission gave a negative opinion on the earlier Masterplan 2030, which ENAC and ADR had submitted in March 2017, according to Greenme on 28 October 2019. FuoriPista dates the halt to 2020 and says a 2021 ruling of the Lazio administrative court ruled out new infrastructure in the reserve. That ruling was not located for this report. Before that, ENAC gave technical approval on 20 October 2015 to a masterplan sized to 2044, with 85.8 million passengers, about €6.4 billion of works and a fourth runway, according to OstiaTV. The runway was not built.

The concession date has a clear answer once the documents are read in order. ENAC's 2012 agreement documents set the end of ADR's concession at 30 June 2044. In 2020 Law 77/2020 added a provision to the Rilancio decree extending airport concessions by two years, as reported by Pagella Politica on 31 July 2020. Mundys's 2025 annual report gives the end date as 30 June 2046. The 2044 date is out of date, and a 2045 date, attributed to Troncone in an Il Sole 24 Ore English report of 8 September 2025, matches no document. ADR's 2046 traffic target therefore falls in the last year of its concession.

Capacity and the 100 million passengers

No current capacity figure for Fiumicino has been published in any source read for this report. The latest public number is old. In April 2023 ADR's then president, Claudio De Vincenti, told AGI that a new boarding area would give the airport capacity for "over 55 million passengers a year" from 2024. ENAC's 2012 investment programme expected capacity to rise from 35 million to over 50 million after works on the south side of the airport, released between 2016 and 2024.

Some capacity has been added since. Terminal 3's rebuilt arrivals area added more than 30% capacity for arriving passengers, according to Il Sole 24 Ore on 13 May 2025. That project cost more than €250 million, raised baggage belts from 9 to 14 and brought check-in desks to 248. Mundys's report also cites the +30% figure. In the same September 2025 interview (Radiocor, published by Il Sole 24 Ore English), Troncone said the airport was nearing the end of what could be done to increase capacity. Lazio's president, Francesco Rocca, says the airport is close to saturation, as reported by ItaliaOggi. Neither statement gives a number.

The traffic target sets a pace. Going from 51.3 million passengers in 2025 (Assaeroporti) to 100 million in 2046 requires average growth of about 3.2% a year (derived). From ENAC's 50.9 million the figure is 3.3% (derived). Primapagina's report of the plan also gives an average of 3.2% a year. If the target covers both Rome airports, as Mundys's report says, the starting point is 55.3 million and the required rate is about 2.9% (derived). Fiumicino's growth in January–September 2026 was 1.1%, about a third of the 3.2% path (derived). One year does not set a trend, and this report makes no forecast.

The money can be set against ADR's current spending. Mundys reports that ADR invested €387 million in 2025, on revenue of €1,188 million and EBITDA of €712 million, with net debt of €2,192 million. Spread evenly over the 21 years from 2026 to 2046, €9 billion would be about €430 million a year (derived). ADR has not published a year-by-year schedule, so that figure is an illustration only. ENAC's 2012 programme, by comparison, foresaw about €12 billion of investment between 2011 and 2044. Its text said it could not count on a fourth runway, although its cost table still listed one. The two programmes cover different periods and are not like for like.

Tariffs, airlines and the regulator

ADR's charges for 2024–2028 have been reviewed by ART, the transport regulation authority. On 18 December 2024, in Delibera 185/2024, ART found ADR's revised charges proposal for Fiumicino compliant with its regulatory models. It reached the same finding for Ciampino in Delibera 62/2025. ART's later decision records that a regional administrative court in Piedmont upheld the Ciampino decision.

On 8 July 2026, in Delibera 121/2026, ART fined ADR €15,000. ADR had not sent the notice opening the consultation on the Fiumicino and Ciampino charges by certified email to two business aviation parties, Leader S.r.l. and the Italian Business Aviation Association. ART called the breach formal. It said the breach does not invalidate its earlier compliance decisions. The decision records that ADR, in a note of 12 June 2025, reported changes in individual charges from about −61% to +344%, and that the complainants alleged increases of two to five times. ART did not verify those figures. The complaint came from business aviation, and the decision does not say how the changes affect airline passengers.

Ryanair's figures for the airline charges moved during the year. In January 2026 it said ADR's charges would rise 44% at Ciampino and 15% at Fiumicino by 2028. In October 2026 it gave 50% and 14% by 2028. ART publishes no overall percentage change. Delibera 121/2026 records only ADR's own range of −61% to +344% for individual charges, and +78% to +99% per turnaround for two common business aviation aircraft, which ART did not verify. Ryanair said in October it would base 16 aircraft in Rome for winter 2026 (10 at Fiumicino and 6 at Ciampino) and would invest more in Italy if the Ciampino cap and the municipal surcharge were removed. These are company statements.

Fiumicino's largest airline is a separate story. ITA Airways carried 26% of Fiumicino's traffic in 2024, according to Ivan Bassato, ADR's chief aviation officer, interviewed by The Flight Club on 8 March 2025. Its future inside the Lufthansa group is covered in our report on ITA Airways and Lufthansa. No source read for this report gives ITA's 2026 share at Fiumicino.

Ciampino and the Rome system

Rome has two airports, and both are run by ADR. Ciampino handled 3,987,517 passengers in 2025 on Assaeroporti's table, as republished by Italiavola & Travel. Together with Fiumicino, the Rome system handled 55,294,261 passengers, 24.0% of Italy's total (derived). ADR and Mundys describe the system as handling about 55.3 million. It covers two airports, not Fiumicino alone.

Ciampino shrank in 2026. Assaeroporti counted 2,984,765 passengers in January–September, down 1%, and 322,991 in September, down 1.2%. The Rome system handled 42,673,221 passengers in the first nine months, 22.8% of the national total (derived). Ryanair says Ciampino is limited to 65 flights a day and cites a study it commissioned from Professor Roberto Devoto saying the airport could handle 115 within current noise limits. The legal instrument behind the cap was not located for this report.

Ciampino's place in the 2046 plan is unclear. The plan documents reported in the press concern Fiumicino. Mundys's report frames the 100 million target as traffic at the Rome airports. No source read for this report says how much of that traffic, if any, would use Ciampino.

Figures in circulation that do not hold up

Several numbers about Fiumicino travel widely without a sound basis. ItaliaOggi wrote on 27 October 2026 that Fiumicino handled 50.6 million passengers in 2025, 14 million on domestic routes and 36 million international. That total matches neither series, and ENAC puts domestic passengers at about 10 million. Fiumicino's rank in Europe is reported as 7th by the University of Bergamo's ICCSAI FactBook, via QuiFinanza on 7 June 2026, and as 8th by ACI World on international passengers only, via Euronews on 16 July 2026. ACI Europe's own 2025 release (5 February 2026) gives no rank for Fiumicino.

A figure of 10% growth in Fiumicino's US traffic in January–April 2026 circulated after a QdS/askanews report of 28 May 2026. It traces back only to a trade site, with about 810,000 passengers on US routes in both directions, Italians included. No ADR, ENIT or Assaeroporti figure supports it. The best traceable North America figure is ADR's figure of 4.7 million passengers for 2025, given on 22 December 2025 (AGI). Readers interested in that market can see our report on American tourists in Italy.

The plan's dates are simple once checked. The plan was presented on 9 December 2025, and the €9 billion figure was in the press by September 2025. AGI's report of 22 December 2025 on the 50 million record mentions it in one sentence, as "over €9 billion."

What this means for travelers, businesses and analysts

Travelers should read the 2026 figures as a busy airport that is no longer getting busier. Fiumicino handled almost 40 million passengers in the first nine months of 2026, and ItaliaOggi reported a record of 185,000 passengers in one day on 16 August. The EU's Entry/Exit System has added time at passport control for non-EU travelers. ADR's chief aviation officer, Ivan Bassato, told the BBC that the average border wait at Fiumicino rose from about 7 minutes to about 20, as reported by ITIJ on 20 July 2026. That is an airport average with no published method. Our report on EES at Italy's borders explains the system. Works are scheduled to start no earlier than early 2028, according to Mundys. For getting into the city and planning the days that follow, start with our Rome travel guide and our list of things to do in Rome.

Tourism businesses and investors should separate measured traffic from plans. The measured series show Fiumicino at 50.9 million passengers in 2025 (ENAC) and up 1.1% in January–September 2026 (Assaeroporti), well below the national 5.5%. The plan offers ADR's figures of €9 billion and 100 million passengers by 2046, a start of works in early 2028 and a runway target of 2033 reported in the press. Its approval record so far is a municipal vote on a nature reserve boundary and an ongoing public debate. ADR's concession runs to 30 June 2046. Anyone pricing airport-dependent business in Rome should watch for the debate's final report and for an ENAC or environmental decision, none of which had been published by 1 November 2026. Our report on Etna's closures of Catania airport shows how quickly a single airport's numbers can move for reasons outside the operator's control.

Journalists and analysts can cite the figures in the "Which number to cite" box above, each with its series named. Claims not to repeat include 55.3 million as Fiumicino's figure, a 2044 or 2045 concession end, ItaliaOggi's 50.6 million split, an unqualified European rank, the US +10% and any cause for Fiumicino's slowdown, since none has been published. No one publishes who Fiumicino's passengers are, and no one has yet published an approval of the plan beyond a municipal vote on the reserve boundary.