Rome Fiumicino Airport is world’s first to be awarded five star Covid-19 safety rating

London’s Heathrow Airport was only awarded three stars

Rome Fiumicino Airport is the first to be awarded with five star rating for its Covid-19 procedure (Getty Images)

Rome Fiumicino Airport has become the first airport in the world to be given a five star rating for its Covid-19 protocol by the air transport rating agency Skytrax.

The assessment, which was conducted over three days earlier this month, combined efficiency checks, visual observation analysis and ATP sampling tests, with consistency being a key factor in the final rating.

Skytrax praised Rome’s Fiumicino Airport for its effective signage and information systems, as well as its in-house Bio-Safety Team of 40 staff who facilitate social distancing and ensure compliance with face covering usage in high movement areas.

In the wake of coronavirus, Rome Airport has reorganised operations so that check-in and arrivals are assigned to Terminal 3, while Concourse Gates E is dedicated to departure and transfer flights.

The airport is also testing several UV sanitisation methods aimed at further enhancing hygiene levels at high-contact points, such as escalators and lifts.

Skytrax also noted the visible presence of cleaning staff in customer facing areas.

While daily passenger numbers are only at around 30 per cent of usual levels, Skytrax stated that the airport remains “quite busy and vibrant”.

Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said: “Rome Fiumicino Airport has done an excellent job in delivering COVID-19 protocols that enable a safe environment for customers and staff.

“In the core areas of hand hygiene and social distancing the airport has robust procedures in place, and importantly, this is being reinforced by a high-level of attention to terminal sanitisation at high-contact points.”

Mr Plaisted added that it was the “consistency of these measures” that was instrumental in the airport being awarded the world’s first five-star rating.

Marco Troncone, CEO of Rome Fiumicino Airport said: “We are very satisfied with this new award as it once again is a significant international recognition of the efforts of the company which, during the emergency, in addition to the protocols prescribed by the government, has adopted further measures to ensure the maximum breadth and depth of preventive interventions allowing the airports of the Italian capital to continue to operate in conditions of maximum safety.”

Skytrax launched the Covid-19 Airport Rating in August 2020, with a current focus on European airports.

Audits completed so far include London’s Heathrow Airport, Malaga Airport and Nice Airport, all of which were given a three-star rating.