Rome–Fiumicino International Airport, also named Leonardo Da Vinci Airport, opened in 1960. It is one of the busiest airports in Europe, and it can get horrendously busy. It has very good airport lounges, but which is best if you are flying in Business Class or have a Priority Pass or relevant credit card?
Fiumicino Airport has three terminals; T1, T3, and T5, but T5 is currently closed, so all flights use T1 or T3. Schengen passengers flying between 26 European countries have access to different lounges from non-Schengen passengers.
Free Airport Lounge Access
If you have not paid for Business Class or First Class, you can access airport lounges for a fee or for free if you have a Priority Pass or an Amex Platinum card. To get extra bonus referral points and advice on the Platinum American Express and other free-lounge-access credit cards, have a read of our best credit cards for luxury travel.
1. Casa Alitalia lounge, T1
This lounge can be accessed by Schengen passengers, including Alitalia’s Freccia Alata, SkyTeam Elite members, Alitalia Business Class passengers with a same-day ticket. Interestingly, you can also access this lounge with an American Express Platinum card.
This lounge is great and the best airport lounge at Rome Airport (FCO). It is stylish, with a mocha color scheme. There is lots of rustic wood on the walls and floor and shiny lighting. Best of all, there is a large live chef station complete with a chef with a chef’s hat, rustling up some glorious fresh food.
The food includes fresh stonebaked pizza, which is tomato, cheese, parma ham, mozzarella, and pesto. Also, mini canapes on stonebaked rounds, with tomato, cheese, herbs, tuna, mozzarella, etc. on them. There are also large bowls of pasta with tomato, olive, and pesto sauces. This is delicious food for an airport lounge! Alongside the fresh pasta and pizza is a massive salad bar which is equally delicious, plus there are cheese plates and plates of ham. There is a separate staffed bar area for Prosecco, wine, beer, spirits, and Lavazza Italian coffee.
The bathrooms are really nice too, with a flint tile and a modern finish, plus showers.
2. Casa Alitalia Non Schengen Piazza Di Spagna Lounge T3
The non-Schengen lounge is much better than the Schengen Piazza Venezia Lounge, T3 (outlined below), and can be found in Terminal 3 (Non-Schengen), Pier E, near gates E31-E44.
This is the newest Casa Alitalia lounge at the airport, and it is super stylish. If you imagine a more stylish, more slick, more Italian chic version of Starbucks, you will be able to see an approximation of this lounge in your mind. The food in this lounge is excellent with fresh pizza, a buffet, and a very nice selection of desserts.
There is a staffed bar in the lounge where you can order beer wines, prosecco, spirits, and cocktails. There are no windows in this lounge, but this doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a great lounge.
3. Plaza Premium Lounge, Extra Schengen Area, T3
This large, non-Schengen lounge is open to Priority Pass members. It is a really stylish lounge that is large, bright, and located on the airport’s roof. It has fantastic views over the planes. There is a chef in this lounge who will make you sone baked pizza; Margarita or Plaza Premium which also has salami on it. You can also have Arrabbiata pasta or salmon pasta made to order.
The buffet is also very good with salad bowls with rocket and tomato etc., veggies, warm chips, warm sausages, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, meatballs, and olives. Breakfast also includes cold cuts, fruit, yogurt, cereal, bread, and pastries. There are even some Italian fruit tarts… A true feast! Showers are available too, along with sleep rooms for an additional fee.
4. Star Alliance lounge
This lounge is open to Star Alliance Gold members and Business and First Class passengers flying on Star Alliance airlines. This lounge can be found in the intra-Schengen Area (Zone D) of Terminal 3.
It has a stunning design with really fun lighting, great coffees (delivered by a professional barista), a good hot and cold breakfast spread, including pastries, muffins, jams, fruit, yogurt, eggs, cold cuts, cheeses, cereal, pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns and so forth. In the afternoon and evening, you can enjoy freshly cooked pizza and pasta too.
For alcohol, they have cocktails, spirits, beer, wine, and so forth. Beyond the stylish design, I particularly liked the curved windows which look out at the planes. They have a kind of greenhouse effect, so if you sit by the window, you can see the planes but also the sky above you.
5. British Airways Lounge, T3
This is a gorgeous British Airways lounge. It only recently opened in 2018 and has wood floors and dark seating with double-height ceilings and lots of different seating in different nooks and crannies. You can access this lounge if you are a British Airways premium or elite passenger or a Business Class passenger on Oneworld airlines.
The lounge features coffee machines, self-serve bars with stylish dark worktops, and a cold buffet. There are power points at pretty much every seat, and seats have usefully large side tables to either side, so you have plenty of room to put your drinks and plate of food. The lounge features stunning tarmac views, so you can happily spend hours looking out at the planes.
Food-wise, the lounge does disappoint when compared to the rest of the lounges at this airport. It lacks the fresh pizza and pasta that you will find in the Casa Alitalia lounges and the Plaza Premium lounge above. For breakfast, expect cereals, cold cuts, cheese, bread and jams, pastries and biscuits including strawberries, and for drinks, fresh juice, soft drinks, spirits, beer, and wine. There is no warm food in the buffet, but the style of this lounge is superb. It is a great place to spend time.
6. Casa Alitalia Schengen Piazza Venezia Lounge, T3
The Casa Alitalia Schengen Piazza Venezia Lounge is for passengers, including Alitalia’s Freccia Alata, SkyTeam Elite members, Alitalia Business Class flyers with a same-day ticket. Interestingly, you can apparently access this lounge with an American Express Platinum card. Priority Pass members also have access to this lounge.
The Schengen lounge is the smallest of these lounges and can be found next to the British Airways Lounge. The look has no particular style, and it feels like a room in the airport with seats in it, but the coffee is good and is served by two live baristas.
The food on offer is fairly decent with fruit and then for breakfast 3 hot dishes including scrambled egg as well as a cold buffet with pastries and bread, hams and cheese plus prefilled sandwich rolls and bagels. Whilst this lounge is nowhere near as good as the Casa Alitalia lounge, T1, the food is filling and not bad for an airport lounge.
7. Landside Casa Alitalia Piazza Navona Lounge
You may not know, but there is also a Landside Casa Alitalia Piazza Navona Lounge where you can actually check-in your luggage when flying Alitalia from Rome Fiumicino airport. It is located in the departure hall, next to Alitalia check-in.
You can enjoy alcoholic and soft drinks and check yourselves in at the private check-in desks within this lounge and away from the crowds. Once you’ve enjoyed your drink, you can head out and through security, which is not far away.
8. HelloSky Arrivals Lounge
This arrivals lounge can be found near the parking area and offers free drinks and Wi-Fi, as well as a comfortable place to relax. Air Rooms at this lounge can be rented by the hour for a quick sleep or a shower. There are also some meeting rooms available.
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