Rome’s quickly built T5 airline terminal

Susan Spano’s Postcards From Rome

What do Delta, Continental, United, American, US Airways and El Al have in common?

A dinky little terminal at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (FCO), built in six months on what looks like the back lot. It opened in May, ostensibly to ease congestion at the airport’s main international terminal, TC, but also, evidently, to deal with heightened security regulations affecting people arriving from or headed to the U.S.

No famous architect like Norman Foster or Santiago Calatrava would want his name attached to it. A refitted cargo terminal, T5 looks like a bus station and is connected to Fiumicino’s other terminals by a slogging shuttle bus.

Shortly after T5 opened, I heard from Los Angeles Times readers who deemed it an organizational disaster.

When I stopped by last week, things were running smoothly, though I’ve certainly had my own load of Fiumicino troubles. At the domestic terminal, TB, I once waited in line so long that my flight left before I got to the check-in counter.

So I’m not surprised to hear that T5 is a sort of American and Israeli air traveler’s nightmare. But if, in time, it gets you in the air, why grouse?

–Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times

[Photo of Fiumicino's T5 terminal by Susan Spano.]

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 14, 2008 at 1:51 pm by Susan Spano and is filed under Europe, Frequent Flier, Italy, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.