Rome’s Fiumicino airport, Italy’s busiest air traffic hub, will cut operations to 60 per cent of capacity from tomorrow, just before the start of the summer holiday season, following fire damage last month.

Air transport authority Enac said the cut in capacity, which will lead to the gradual shutdown of arrivals at Terminal 3, would begin at midnight today. There was no indication of how long it was expected to last.

Enac said the decision was taken because of concerns over the security risk from overcrowding in the terminal buildings. Prosecutors investigating the May 7 blaze have closed part of the airport.

Despite airlines’ assurances that they would try to keep the inconvenience suffered by passengers to a minimum, consumer rights groups warned of chaos unless flight timetables were overhauled completely to handle the summer rush.

There is a risk that services will collapse

“The summer season is beginning and without adequate solutions, there is a risk that services will collapse,” said Pietro Giordano, head of consumer rights organisation Adiconsum.

“More than a month has gone by since the fire and it’s no longer possible to talk about exceptional circumstances as a justification for this continuing breakdown in services.”

Airport operator Aeroporti di Roma, part of motorways group Atlantia SpA, initially asked authorities last month for approval for the reduction because of health concerns about lingering air pollution from chemicals released in the fire.

Prosecutors say they have not decided how long they will sequester the section of the airport that has been shut down for their investigation.