Fiumicino, 14th July 2016 - The procedures implemented by Aeroporti di Roma for the sub-concession of retail areas are among the best practices adopted by major international airports and meet the target of ensuring passengers the maximum freedom of choice, especially in sectors with a highly competitive and varied offer. It would make no sense, for example, to imagine that perfumery, leather and luxury brands were all the same and that their selection should be subject to the regulation of public tenders.  
ADR's procedures were previously assessed by the Antitrust Authority, which considered them in full respect of the principles of transparency, equal treatment and non-discrimination. And a series of rulings by the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio, the Italian Council of State and, recently, the Supreme Court confirmed that retail activities at airports are not applicable to the rules on public tenders, since they are not in any way related to the services of airport management.
Finally, the European Commission has also recently established that an airport managing authority may select its business partners "negotiating directly without a tendering procedure". If a different approach were to be followed in Italy, private operators such as ADR would be forced to face unjustified unequal treatment compared to other European hubs.

Aeroporti di Roma, a company of the Gruppo Atlantia, manages and develops the airports of Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino, and performs other activities related and complementary to airport management. Fiumicino operates through four passenger terminals. It is dedicated to business and leisure customers for domestic, international and intercontinental flights; Ciampino is mainly used by low-cost airlines, express couriers and for General Aviation activities. In 2015 ADR (Aeroporti di Roma) recorded, as an airport system, more than 46 million passengers with 240 destinations worldwide reachable from Rome thanks to about 100 airlines operating from the two airports.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT

Media and web relations

pressoffice@adr.it