Italy's civil aviation authority (Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile - ENAC) has warned Vueling Airlines (VY, Barcelona El Prat) that it risks serious fines for failure to uphold passengers rights following a series of operational delays and cancellations last week at Rome Fiumicino.
On Wednesday, July 29 thick smoke from a fire in the Focene pinewood forest near the airport forced the intermittent closure of its runways while on Thursday, the airfield was hit by a seven hour-long power outage. The resulting delays and cancellations resulted in several hundred passengers missing their flights with airlines frantically moving to clear the backlog.
Italy's ANSA news service states Vueling moved to address the situation on Saturday after ENAC threatened to revoke its Italian operating licence. However, on Sunday, Italian police were called to the airport to quell a near riot by 100 angry Vueling passengers.
Following a tour of Fiumicino this week, ENAC president Vito Riggio singled out the Spanish LCC for its alleged failure to assist stranded passengers as required under European law. He warned Vueling faced "relevant sanctions and heavy fines as set out in European regulations and commensurate with damages incurred by passengers."
For its part, the state of Fiumicino's infrastructure has come under severe criticism from operators following a mysterious fire at its Terminal 3 in May this year.
The terminal's resulting partial closure caused significant delays to airlines and passengers alike culminating in Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) stating it would seek EUR80 million (USD88 million) in damages.
“The problems of Fiumicino come from years and years of inadequate investment and planning and are now structural, we hope there will be less attention to finance and more attention to the market and to passengers needs," airline CEO Silvano Cassano said. “If Fiumicino will continue to focus on low cost carriers and mediocre services, Alitalia will be forced to shift its growth elsewhere."
