11 December 2013 - Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes Jr., as the current Chairperson of the ASEAN Committee in Rome (ACR), led a 12-person ACR delegation to the Headquarters of the Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) in the compound of Fiumicino Airport (FCO) in Rome on November 28.
ADR Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Lo Presti, welcomed the ACR delegation, highlighting the importance of ASEAN as a partner in the current plans of the Fiumicino airport to strengthen its role amongst Europe’s leading airports. The Executive Vice President for Infrastructures, Mr. Giorgio Gregori, and the Officer-in-Charge of Route Development-Asia, Mr. Raffaele Pasquini, provided a detailed briefing on the Fiumicino Airport Development Plan, stressing that the current FCO South Boundary would be, from 2013-2015, expanded and modernized to increase level of service while the FCO North (2026-2044) would be built to respond to the long-term growth potential.
It was further highlighted that, in the past five years, FCO had serviced more passengers than Charles de Gaulle Airport in France and Frankfurt Airport in Germany. In terms of number of airlines serviced, FCO tops the list in Europe. Further, FCO’s efforts to substantively improve baggage handling (a major concern in all international airports) were recognized with an IATA award in 2011, resulting to requests from other European airports for Italy to provide training on the same.
Opportunities for ASEAN-FCO cooperation was identified in terms of increased flights between Asia and Italy (currently, it was noted that Alitalia does not fly to Asia except to and from Japan) and, in this regard, PAL’s resumption of flights to FCO was noted and welcomed; exchange of technical expertise and possible purchase of Italian technology.
Other ACR inputs such as the need to improve security not only inside the airport, but also in thepublic areas (arrival, departure, parking, etc); the possible set-up of an exhibit area/wing showcasing Italian pride such as paintings, architecture and other art work; and the 24-hr provision of the VIP rooms for official guests of embassies, with possible cost after normal airport office hours (ie. from 8pm to 6am) were likewise taken into consideration.
With Ambassador Reyes were the Ambassador of Myanmar, Chargé d’Affaires a.i of Indonesia, Deputy Chiefs of Mission of Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, and their respective other officials.
The ADR team also included the Vice President for Airport Management, Mr. Stefano Donnarumma; Officer in Charge for External Relations, Mr. Massimiliano Paolucci; and the Officer in Charge for Infrastructure Project Design, Mr. Paolo Cambula. END
