All travelers are divided into experienced and newcomers. For some, there is nothing difficult in figuring out how to buy air tickets, navigate in an unfamiliar city on the other side of the world, or decipher obscure signs. But others are embarrassed by each new word in the itinerary receipt and designations of the international airport. Here for this category of beginner tourists, today's article will probably be useful.
FCO Airport - Da Vinci's Mysterious Code
Italy is famous not only for its cultural heritage, but also for the riddles that absolutely everything in this ancient country breathes. If you are going to pay your respects to exquisite Florence and stately Rome, then your incomprehensible FCO code is definitely on your ticket. Which airport is hiding under these fancy letters? Should tourists going to Rome and trying to figure out the final destination on Italian land be worried?
Each ticket and itinerary receipt of a tourist traveling to the heart of Italy is marked FCO (airport). The interpretation of this combination is simple: the Roman airport "Fiumicino", in which almost all foreign tourists arrive, is designated in three Latin letters. The second name for the airport was given by the great Leonardo da Vinci.
Why do I need a three-letter code?
Each international airport has its own code, always consisting of three Latin letters. This value is indicated on internal documents, airline tickets and in the control room. We can say that the short code is the middle name of the international airport, identical to its main name.
Do not confuse this code with the abbreviation, it is not an abbreviation, but is read in a single word. It is assigned a letter designation by the International Association, which gives the airport international status and opens the sky over it to all world airlines. FCO Airport received its status and code around the middle of the last century. Since its opening, it is international.
Airport: Rome, Fiumicino (FCO)
The main Roman airport is considered one of the largest and oldest in the country. It is located almost in the city center, from the main attractions of Rome it is only twenty kilometers away.
Currently, the Leonardo da Vinci Airport serves more than one hundred air carriers from around the world, about forty million passengers pass through it in a year. The double name of the destination on tickets is a little scary for inexperienced tourists. But locals are used to calling the main air gate of Rome by the small Roman suburb that gave them their name and territory - Fiumicino. Although officially everyone calls the airport the name of the great da Vinci.
It is worth noting that the terminal is far from new. Several times, the entire surrounding area, along with four terminals, underwent reconstruction. But still the Roman “Fiumicino” is among the ten worst in Europe.
Description of the international airport in Rome
As noted earlier, the FCO airport has four terminals, they are located quite close to each other. This distance can be easily overcome on foot, which is what many tourists use. The territory of Fiumicino is well planned and decorated, within walking distance are three good middle-class hotels.
Initially, the airport terminals had a literal meaning, but now they are located under serial numbers. In each terminal there are cozy cafes, small shops and convenient currency exchange points. In principle, everything looks decent and tidy.
Fiumicino got into the section of the worst European airports due to problems with energy supply, lack of staff and long lines at the check-in counters. The administration has been trying to resolve all these issues for several years, but radical changes at the Leonardo da Vinci airport are possible only after a large-scale reconstruction of all terminals.
Italy is a beautiful country with an amazing history, reflected in the most picturesque monuments. Many travelers dream of going to Rome, and the entrance to this city for any traveler lies through Europe’s largest air gate. Perhaps someday the FCO airport will be as beautiful as the most famous Italian city.