Originally Posted by rove312

The AA flight would actually leave from the Terminal C satellite; T5 is a check-in facility. If you can avoid check-in at FCO, you can get to the gate airside; T5 is completely separate and AFAIK you can't get there airside.

So, I imagine that in your group there would be people checking bags; is your flight from Trieste on an airline that interlines baggage to AA? I see that AA doesn't have online check-in for international flights, so a question for someone who knows better: can an AA boarding pass, or other document that lets them clear security and passport control airside, be issued by a transit desk at FCO, letting you stay airside to get from A to C?

If you need to go landside, there's a walkway outside the front of the terminals to get from A to C; then the question is how often the bus runs, and will the group of 30, mixing with others who are waiting, need to be split among a few buses? Was this trip booked on one itinerary that says it's a legal connection? If you enter T5 as if you're originating, often two hours early is too late, but at other times it goes quickly.