Rome airport fully operational after forest fire affects flights

“The situation is very serious, the blaze is about one kilometre (about half a mile) wide”, said Fiumicino mayor Esterino Montino. The full extent of the damage is still to be determined, but Alitalia airline reported loss for over €80 million ($88 million).

These episodes signal the area’s vulnerability to fires, something the airport should address if it wants get rid of its title as the world’s second-worst airport. A spokesperson said the number of incoming flights had been reduced.

Forest rangers said that the blaze was affecting about 40 hectares of a nature reserve that totals some 16,000 acres. “It’s hard to intervene because the wind is blowing towards the pine grove”.

All outgoing flights were cancelled for around two hours and several surrounding roads in the area were also closed to traffic.

On July 28, another fire developed a little further from the airport than the pine grove, though still in the area.

Fiumicino is on the Mediterranean Sea, west of the capital.

A forest fire raged near Rome’s Fiumicino airport on Wednesday, forcing the suspension of departures and the reduction of arrivals at Italy’s busiest hub, officials said.

Clouds of grey smoke blown by strong winds over the runways temporarily grounded all flights at the Italian capital’s biggest airport, which was forced to close in May after a fire devastated part of a terminal and had yet to fully reopen.

Fiumicino airport was closed and all domestic and European flights were cancelled after a fire reportedly broke out in a coffee bar in Terminal 3 shortly after midnight.

The wildfire sent plumes of smoke high into the air, halting the airport’s operations.

One eyewitness said that within minutes the smoke inside the airport was so thick that it was impossible to see.