Chaos at Fiumicino: Here's the waste and mistakes that are destroying an airport.

CHAOS AT FIUMICINO AIRPORT –

An endless chaos . Fiumicino International Airport has become the symbol of a country system now in a tailspin, with serious damage to Italy's reputation, to tourism, to the poor passengers (who are leaving for vacation these days), and to all the companies in the sector . But the picture of the daily disaster we are told is still missing a piece: how did we get to this situation? Where is the responsibility, given that we cannot just talk about fatalities and random accidents?

ALSO READ: Enough waste, half a century to build a road. Isn't that absurd?

FIUMICINO AIRPORT DISCOMFORTS –

It all began with a disastrous privatization of the airport. It was the late 1990s, and the government needed to raise funds, so it succumbed to the trend of cheaply privatizing—that is, selling off—entire strategic sectors: telecommunications, highways, and airports. Fiumicino Airport was thus purchased, with debt (as in the unfortunate case of the Telecom Italia sale), and subsequently became part of the Benetton family's business, through its subsidiary ADR.

But since the state's exit, the most significant effect has been a collapse in investment in the country's most important airport. This means less efficiency, lower quality services, and less safety . Since privatization, investment has plummeted to no more than 60-70 million euros per year, a third of the average for other European airports.

TERMINAL 1: WASTE –

The latest major project to be completed is Terminal 1: it's a shame, however, that it's being opened under private management, despite the fact that the IRI (Italian Institute for Industrial Reconstruction) provided the funding for the work, when the state controlled the company. Meanwhile, fares have doubled, from €16 to €26,50 per passenger.

FIRES AND DISTURBANCES AT FIUMICINO AIRPORT –

Currently, approximately a thousand flights land and take off at Fiumicino Airport every day, carrying over 40 million passengers annually: significant numbers, yet no thought has been given to improving the facility's essential safety. There have been 53 (arson?) fires in the last two years, since August 2013, yet there isn't a single fire station in the entire area, considered a fire risk. The closest ones are in Cerveteri (39 kilometers away) or Piazzale Ostiense in Rome (40 kilometers away). Do you think this type of prevention is possible from so far away?

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