Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci – Fiumicino Airport has undergone major operational changes in the past year, with the opening of the new “E” gate concourse and the (temporary) closure of Terminal 5 (where check-in and security for US carriers and El Al has been handled).

Historically, FCO Terminal 1 had been for AZ domestic and Schengen flights, and Terminal 3 was for non-Schengen and long distance carrier. With the T5 closure, there’s been a comprehensive airline reorganization and changes in passenger flow.

T1 is now the check-in are for ALL AZ flights, as well as those of its major partners (SkyTeam’s KLM, Air France and Delta; Etihad Partners’ Etihad, Air Serbia and Air Berlin). Additionally, Delta check-in inside a segregated check-in and security are at the south end of the Terminal. Conversely, American, United and EL Al are in a segregated zone at the west end of T3. Each of these zones requires a preliminary security scan before approaching the check-in desks. The two “US zones” also have separate passenger screening facilities. which must ALSO be used (accessed by a separate entrance) by Alitalia passengers on US flights. All security checkpoints now are gated and require a boarding pass scan; a US-destination will not be accepted at the non-US entry points. Presumably, there’s a more attentive security scan going on; however after completion, you’ll be released into the same departures/shopping zone as everyone else.

The immigration zone between the “C” and “E” gates has also been rebuilt; EU citizens are directed to electronic passport gates, while citizens of other nations are fed in a single serpentine line to manual passport control. Maybe it was circumstantial, but on my trip this weekend, despite a larger number of windows, the line was incredibly long, and I made my plane only because I was grabbed out of the queue and moved to a special cases lane.

Past immigration, all non-Schengen passengers are directed into the new “E” gate area, which involved walking straight through a new Duty Free store; there’s additional shopping on the lower level and a restaurants and a food court upstairs. Passengers are then distributed to the new “E” gate concourse, the old concourse or the train out to the remote facility (where the bus from T5 dropped you off). Alitalia flights now leave from the new gates; the remote terminal is for non-AZ flights.

All in all, the walk from the T1 entry point to immigration is about 10 minutes, and the walk from there to the first “E” gate is about 5.

There may well be changes in the arrivals process, but I flew in from Berlin on this trip, so I didn’t experience a non-Schengen arrival.