More confusion, and an interesting compromise at FCO. Rome airport management wanted to reduce flights to 60% of normal from the 80% where they are now, because the environmental protection agency hasn't definitively ruled whether or not it is safe in T3.

The environmental protection agency now said that they cannot make a ruling because the air samples were provided by airport officials without any verification, and who had a self-interest in keeping the airport open. Even then, the dioxin and PCB levels were 10-40 times normal.

http://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cron...d1b63bb7.shtml

They could not make a ruling about whether the area is safe or unsafe in terms of carcinogens because they have doubts about how the air samples were obtained, but they issued a ruling on particulate matter and found it to be at unsafe levels for workers. They issued a mandatory ruling that all workers must wear a mask at all times, and they cannot work for longer than a 4 hour shift per day. But they said it is safe for travelers.

http://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cron...b670a5d4.shtml

But most important perhaps for travelers, the edict also said that because being in T3 is bad for your health they are taking the following measures.

"Misure per i viaggiatori
Ecco, invece, l’aggiornamento delle «misure cautelari per i passeggeri: per ridurre i tempi di attraversamento e sosta dei passeggeri nel Terminal 3 è richiesto l’incremento del numero dei banchi check-in e l’apertura anticipata di almeno un’ora rispetto agli attuali tempi, nonché l’incremento del personale di riferimento del Terminal 3. Tali azioni per consentire di velocizzare il trasferimento dei passeggeri del Terminal 3 alle aree di imbarco. Proseguiranno inoltre con maggior frequenza le attività di bonifica e ricambio continuo dei filtri dell’aria» del terminal in questione."

"Measures for travelers.
Today's announcement of precautionary measures for passengers is to reduce the time it will take them to pass through T3 and to reduce the time they will have to stay there by requesting an increase in the number of check-in counters, and that they be opened at least one hour before the actual time, and that they increase in the number of airport personnel assigned to T3 to accomplish this. These measures will allow the speeding up of movement of passengers of T3 from the check-in area to their departure gates. They are also pursuing changing the air filters in T3 more frequently."