Fifty-one million passengers in one year, and a prize that returns to Rome for the fifth consecutive time. The Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino confirms itself as the best airport on the continent in the category of airports with over 40 million passengers, a recognition assigned by the Aci Europe Best Airport Award 2026 and collected in Prague during the 36th edition of the ACI EUROPE Annual Congress and General Assemblythe annual congress of the association representing European airports. For the Roman hub it is the eighth title since 2018, the fifth in a row, a record that no other major airport on the continent can boast.
An independent jury, eight institutional evaluators
The award does not arise from a survey among passengers but from the judgment of an independent commission, made up of eight representatives of the main European aviation institutions: European Commission, Eurocontrol, Easa, Ecac and Sesar Joint Undertaking, among others. The results weighed on three fronts that the jury evaluates with equal importance: operational efficiency, quality of service and environmental, social and governance impact. In the motivation, Aci Europe defines Fiumicino as “an excellent airport that never stops”, underlining the push towards predictive and artificial intelligence-based operations. In the same category, the Istanbul airport received an honorable mention.
Objective one hundred million passengers
The recognition captures a record year. In 2025 the «Leonardo da Vinci» exceeded 51 million passengers for the first time (the total figure is 51.3 million, approximately 4% more than in 2024 and 18% above the pre-pandemic levels of 2019) and aims to reach 53 million during 2026. The gaze, however, is already beyond, given that Aeroporti di Roma has launched a sustainable development plan to 9 billion euros, designed to support an estimated demand of up to 100 million passengers per year by 2046. The European award adds to the seventh place in the Skytrax 2026 world ranking and the five-star certification, which places Fiumicino among the twelve most prestigious and efficient airports in the world.
The «Fiumicino model» and the next phase
For Aeroporti di Roma, a Mundys group company, the title is not a point of arrival but rather the confirmation of a method, the so-called “Fiumicino model”. These are the words of Marco Troncone, CEO of Adr:
Once again confirming Rome Fiumicino at the top of European airports means being able to give continuity to an industrial model that combines quality of service, operational efficiency, applied innovation and environmental sustainability. This further, great result belongs to our people and to the entire airport community, but above all it looks to the next phase of development of the ‘Leonardo da Vinci’, which represents a project of primary national interest. Traffic growth forecasts and the global centrality of Rome require, in fact, adequate infrastructure, targeted investments and a long-term vision. We want to consolidate the role of the Fiumicino hub as a strategic platform for the country’s competitiveness: working in this direction means strengthening Italy’s connectivity, supporting tourism and the economy and intercepting a growing share of intercontinental flows”.
