Rome airport aims to expand before 2033 anniversary of Christ’s death
Messianic milestone will boost tourists and is unofficial deadline for new runway project
Rome’s largest international airport is pushing to complete a €9bn expansion plan in time for a major tourism event: The two thousandth anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The city’s Fiumicino airport wants to finish the work by 2033, when it expects the number of visitors to the Vatican will be swelled even further by the landmark jubilee.
Christ was born around 4-6BC and was crucified and died in the year AD33, when Christians believe he also rose from the dead.
The airport expects growth to continue even without the Messianic milestone — but is urging Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to greenlight the work to begin construction within two years, chief executive Marco Troncone said.
“If this happens, the new runway may be ready in 2033, in time, ideally, for the next iconic event . . . to mark 2,000 years after the death of Jesus Christ,” he told the FT.
The expansion would enable the airport to process 100mn annual passengers by 2046, roughly double the number it received last year.
Troncone said the environment ministry had approved the project, which has also been backed by the transport ministry and deputy prime minister.
“We have some final work to do at the level of the prime minister’s office, which needs to be reassured that this project of course also delivers a lot of value for the public, not only for the private investor,” he said.
He also claimed locals who “normally are against these expansion projects are totally in favour”.
Rome is one of Europe’s most significant tourism cities, with the Colosseum and the Pantheon, as well as the Vatican, which is the centre of the Roman Catholic Church.
The privately funded plan includes a fourth runway, a new terminal complex and additional terminal facilities. Around €5bn of the €9bn investment plan would be spent on expansion and another €4bn on upgrading existing facilities.
Troncone said the airport has seen a rise in US tourists recently, boosted by the strength of the dollar. The fact that the new Pope, Leo XIV, is from Chicago may also be drawing more US Catholics to Vatican City.
The airport had assumed that the US was a “mature” market, but visitors from North America are now 50 per cent higher than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, he added.
He expects “structural growth” in passenger numbers as more people travel to the city and change to destinations across the country — with a significant increase from Asian countries such as China, India and Indonesia, as “billions of people” can afford to fly for the first time.