The Rome Ciampino airport, which began operating in 1916, is without a doubt one of the world’s oldest surviving airports. It is also one of the few integrated civil and military aviation airports in the world. Up until the year 1960, it was the city’s (Rome’s) main airport. It is quite a busy airport, with passenger figures for the year 2007 – the latest year we have stats for, being some 5.4 million passengers. Remarkable is the fact that most of the 5.4 million passengers traveling through the Ciampino airport are passengers on executive and chartered flights, as most scheduled flights to Rome nowadays operate from the city’s main airport: the Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Nevertheless, in terms of the said charter and executive flights, the airport has seen what can only be described as a boom in recent years with double digit percentage growth in passenger numbers in the years before the European economic crisis, which somewhat damped down the numbers. The crisis has had the effect of forcing people to cut back on air travel.Getting to the Ciampino AirportUnlike most other European airports, there is no direct rail connection to Ciampino airport. That means that access to the airport is only by road (although for those keen on using rail transport, there are regular shuttle bus services connecting the airport to the nearby railway stations). For those keen on private travel from the airport, there is a well organized fixed-fare taxi service. It charges some 30 Euros per trip to the Rome city center, which, by the way, is some 12 kilometers away. The fare is 30 Euros for any number of passengers up to four (which is the most the taxi can accommodate), and is inclusive of charges for the standard luggage size.There are also car rental services for those keen on driving themselves. And then there are bus services, with which you need to set aside some forty to fifty minutes, in order to get from Ciampino airport to the city center.
The Rome Ciampino airport, which began operating in 1916, is without a doubt one of the world’s oldest surviving airports. It is also one of the few integrated civil and military aviation airports in the world. Up until the year 1960, it was the city’s (Rome’s) main airport. It is quite a busy airport, with passenger figures for the year 2007 – the latest year we have stats for, being some 5.4 million passengers. Remarkable is the fact that most of the 5.4 million passengers traveling through the Ciampino airport are passengers on executive and chartered flights, as most scheduled flights to Rome nowadays operate from the city’s main airport: the Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Nevertheless, in terms of the said charter and executive flights, the airport has seen what can only be described as a boom in recent years with double digit percentage growth in passenger numbers in the years before the European economic crisis, which somewhat damped down the numbers. The crisis has had the effect of forcing people to cut back on air travel.
Getting to the Ciampino Airport
Unlike most other European airports, there is no direct rail connection to Ciampino airport. That means that access to the airport is only by road (although for those keen on using rail transport, there are regular shuttle bus services connecting the airport to the nearby railway stations).
For those keen on private travel from the airport, there is a well organized fixed-fare taxi service. It charges some 30 Euros per trip to the Rome city center, which, by the way, is some 12 kilometers away. The fare is 30 Euros for any number of passengers up to four (which is the most the taxi can accommodate), and is inclusive of charges for the standard luggage size.
There are also car rental services for those keen on driving themselves. And then there are bus services, with which you need to set aside some forty to fifty minutes, in order to get from Ciampino airport to the city center.