Roman air traffic on the upswing: more than 32.8 million passengers carried in 2022.
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Aeroporti di Roma- Fiumicino and Ciampino Airports
The year 2022 ends with the best result since the start of the pandemic, despite a slow start to the first two months of the year due to the emergence and spread of the Omicron variant, aggravated by the conflict in Ukraine. With the start of the Summer season, traffic showed a definite recovery, partly due to the gradual opening of some markets to nonessential (leisure) travel.
Figures recorded this year show volumes above 32.8 million passengers on Rome’s airport system, with a recovery in traffic starting with the summer season that recorded a recovery of more than 70 percent of 2019 traffic. About 29.4 million passengers passed through Italy’s main international hub while about 3.5 million passed through Rome’s secondary airport, Ciampino. Since April-after 25 months since the start of the pandemic (February 2020)-Rome Fiumicino has returned to over 2 million monthly passengers, showing a strong recovery in traffic to southern Italy and Europe.
Among the major successes of the intense international development activity is the entry of five new airlines to Fiumicino: Qantas, which starts the connection to Australia (Perth/Sydney), Gulf Air to Manama, WestJet to Calgary, Icelandair to Reykjavik and the return of Latam to Sao Paolo.
The best results in terms of increased long-haul traffic come from North America, which holds the lead in terms of passenger volumes with a 2019 traffic recovery of about 80 percent, supported by a massive presence of the three main U.S. players (Delta, American Airlines, United). No less important is the return of both Canadian carriers Air Transat and Air Canada, along with the new company WestJet, which activated the new connection to Calgary, increasing summer operations to Canada. Summer months also showed a quick recovery in the South American market-with the return of Latam, Aerolineas Argentinas, and the departure of Ita Airways’ flights to Brazil and Argentina-and in the Far East with the activation of Qantas’ new connection to Australia (June) and the reinstatement of the flight to Seoul, first by Asiana (June) and in September by Korean Air. Consolidation of the Middle East market with close to 100 percent traffic recovery by the end of the year, thanks to the consolidation of Gulf Air’s new route to Bahrain (June), the recent activation of routes to Damman, Eliat and Ryiadh by Wizz Air, and increased presidium on Tel Aviv thanks to Ryanair and Blue Bird. With the opening of the winter season, Rome returns to connect Mainland China (Chengdu, Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Chongqing) and the Japanese market with the reactivation of ITA Airways to Tokyo-Haneda (from November ’22), Delhi and the Maldives (from December ’22).
Domestic traffic continues to show a positive trend, thanks to flows to southern Italy with an overall recovery in 2019 traffic of 64 percent.
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Polo Aeroportuale Nordest (VCE, TSF, VRN, VBS)
The Polo Aeroportuale Nordest, which includes the airports of Venice, Treviso, Verona, and Brescia, handled about 15 million passengers during 2022, recording an 81 percent recovery of 2019 traffic.
Passengers handled at Venice Airport in 2022 totaled more than 9.3 million (including more than 1 million/month from June to September), with a recovery of 81 percent over 2019 traffic.
The domestic market remained the main target market, covering 24 percent of the total 2022 traffic (over 2.2 million passengers). The main international markets were France (1.3 million passengers), Britain (1.1 million) and Spain (1 million).
The favorite destinations were: Paris CDG, Barcelona, Catania, Naples and Madrid.
Since the beginning of the year there have been about 500 thousand passengers on long- haul destinations, with an average occupancy of 83 percent.
Treviso airport has handled more than 2.6 million since the beginning of the year, recovering 81 percent of 2019 flows.
The main international markets during 2022 were Romania (320 thousand passengers) and Spain (307 thousand). 89percent of passengers traveled to international destinations; passengers to domestic destinations totaled 284 thousand.
The main routes during 2022 were Brussels CRL, Bucharest OTP, Tirana, Lamezia Terme, and Paris BVA.
Verona Airport recorded about 3 million passengers during 2022, recovering 82 percent of 2019 traffic volumes.
The main market was confirmed to be the domestic market, with nearly 1.4 million passengers (46% of total traffic). Second market was the British market, followed by Germany, Albania, Spain, Egypt and Greece.
The main destinations were Catania, Palermo, Bari, Cagliari and London LGW.
During the year, operations resumed on long-haul destinations, which handled about 30 thousand passengers (main markets: Dominican Rep., Maldives, Tanzania and Kenya).