Rome–Fiumicino International Airport "Leonardo da Vinci" (; ), commonly known as Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, is an international airport in Fiumicino, Italy, serving Rome. It is the busiest airport in the country, the 10th busiest airport in Europe and the world's 49th-busiest airport with over 29,3 million passengers served in 2022. It covers an area of . Together with Ciampino Airport, it forms the Rome airport system with 32.8 million passengers in 2022, the second airport system in Italy by number of passengers. The airport is Hub of ITA together with the airport of Milan Linate, formerly the flag carrier and largest Italian airline. As of 2022, it has won the “Best Airport Award” in the category of hubs with over 40 million passengers, issued by Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, for three years in a row. History Early years During construction the remains of Caligula's Giant Ship were found. The airport was officially opened on 15 January 1961, with two runways, replacing the smaller Rome Ciampino Airport, which remains in service for some low-cost airlines as well as domestic and charter operations. Despite being officially opened in 1961, Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport had actually been in use since 20 August 1960. This was to help relieve air traffic that was congesting Rome Ciampino Airport during the 1960 Summer Olympics. During the 1960s, former home-based Alitalia invested heavily in the new airport, building hangars and maintenance centres; in the same period a third runway was added (16L/34R). Later development Security Services transferred from the Polizia di Stato (Italian State Police) to Aeroporti di Roma S.p.A. in 2000. Aeroporti di Roma created ADR Security S.r.l. (100%-owned) to provide these services as well as security services to airlines (in competition with other security companies such as IVRI). Airport Security is supervised by Polizia di Stato, Guardia di Finanza (Italian Customs Police), Italian Civil Aviation Authority and Aeroporti di Roma S.p.A.. Ground handling services were provided by Aeroporti di Roma until 1999, when it created Aeroporti di Roma Handling (to serve all airlines except for Alitalia, which continued to be handled by Aeroporti di Roma itself). Alitalia provided passenger assistance even before 1999. In 2001, Alitalia created "Alitalia Airport" and started providing ground handling for itself and other airlines. Aeroporti di Roma Handling remains the biggest handler in terms of airlines handled, but Alitalia Airport is the biggest handler in terms of airplanes