What airport is FCO?
Why the code is FCO
FiumiCinO, the town it sits in, not Rome and not Leonardo.
The airport authority or a contemporaneous record states this directly.
The airport
- IATA code
- FCO
- ICAO code
- LIRF
- Airport
- Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport
- City
- Rome, Italy
- Code origin
- Documented
Excavation for the airport uncovered the harbour of Claudius and a set of Roman ships, now in a museum on the site. Rome's other airport, Ciampino, holds CIA — a code that causes a predictable amount of confusion in search results.
Codes people book by mistake
| Code | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| CIA | Ciampino, Rome's second airport. Yes, the code really is CIA. |
The other code, LIRF
Every airport has two codes. The three-letter IATA code, FCO, is the one on your boarding pass and your luggage tag, and it is assigned for commercial use. The four-letter ICAO code, LIRF, is the one pilots and controllers use, and it is assigned geographically: the first letter or two identify the region, so every airport in the same part of the world shares a prefix. That is why LIRF looks nothing like FCO.
Common questions
- What airport is FCO?
- Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, in Rome, Italy.
- Why is Rome's airport called FCO?
- FiumiCinO, the town it sits in, not Rome and not Leonardo.
- What is the difference between FCO and LIRF?
- FCO is the IATA code, used commercially — tickets, timetables, luggage tags. LIRF is the ICAO code, used operationally by pilots and air traffic control, and assigned geographically by region.
- Is FCO the same as CIA?
- No. CIA is ciampino, Rome's second airport. Yes, the code really is CIA.
Related pages
- Italy Capital, area, population and currency
- The flag of Italy Colours, symbols and lookalikes
- Airport codes in Italy 2 here
- What airport is MXP? Milan Malpensa Airport, Milan
Sources
- OurAirports — OurAirports (Public domain)