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Fiumicino, 6 December 2022 - During Argentina's Food and Wine Week in Rome, which starts today and runs until next 11 December, it will also be possible at Leonardo da Vinci to taste traditional Argentinian dishes at the Plaza Premium Lounge in boarding area E, with the second edition of the 'Argentinian Gastronomic Journey' event.
The initiative is the result of the collaboration between Plaza Premium Lounge, Aeroporti di Roma, Aerolíneas Argentinas and the Embassy of the Republic of Argentina in Italy, and confirms the close bond that unites Italy and Argentina, initiated in 2018 with the donation of a work by Alejandro Marmo - the first Argentine creator to exhibit in the Vatican Museums with "Cristo obrero" and "Virgen de Luján" -, created specifically for the Roman airport by the sculptor, on behalf of the Embassy of Argentina in Italy.
Throughout the week, the Lounge will be the place where travellers will be able to delight their palate with some typical dishes from the great South American nation. The Doc Italy "Maestri del Gusto" Chefs will pay homage to Argentina with some of the country's iconic desserts and Master Pastry Chef Arcangelo Patrizi will reinterpret the great Italian leavened products such as panettone with extraordinary Argentine raw materials, including Dulce de Leche and Malbec wine. There will also be space for the most traditional Argentine recipes prepared by Chef Davide Sagliocco who will serve the famous 'Carbonada Criolla' and Chef Anna Maria Palma who will delight passengers' palates with 'Locro'. Finally, Master Pastry Chef Enzo Avitabile will close the menu with his 'Babà Re', an Italian liqueur loved by the people of Argentina. Thanks to Guido Favaro's Argentinian wine distributor World of Flavour, it will also be possible to taste Argentinian wines of excellence, represented by premium wineries.
Opening the event was a performance by Masters Leonardo and Cristina Elias, dancers from the International Tango Academy CulturTango, an association dedicated to spreading Argentinian culture in Italy.
"We are proud to have organised this event in collaboration with ADR, the Argentinian Embassy and Aerolinas Argentinas, confirming a relationship that is becoming increasingly stronger in the primary interest of Leonardo da Vinci airport passengers. For the past five years Fiumicino has become our home, we have welcomed more than 350,000 travellers from all over the world, offering them the utmost comfort and high quality food, as also reflected in our recent award as World's Best Independent Lounge at the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards 2022," said Plaza Premium Lounge General Manager Analia Marinoff.
"It is an honour for us to once again host this food and wine initiative in a place, among others, that we are proud of. It is a confirmation of the synergistic relationship that has been created between Italy and Argentina. A strategic market for us that in 2019 showed a constant increase in volumes, reaching 360,000 passengers on board direct flights between Buenos Aires and Fiumicino, demonstrating the strong historical and cultural ties between the two countries," commented Ivan Bassato, ADR's Chief Aviation Officer.
"We are delighted to be able to participate in this very interesting initiative alongside other prestigious companies in the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, where we have been operating for more than 70 years with the valuable support of our friends at Aeroporti di Roma and the Argentinian Embassy in Italy. Aerolíneas Argentinas has the privilege of always embarking from the modern and welcoming Area E at Fiumicino, an airport that, as you may know, boasts countless awards and international praise from travellers themselves. We would also like to thank Plaza Premium Lounge for hosting us for this ideal journey into Argentinian food and wine traditions," added Claudio Neri, Italian Country Manager of Aerolíneas Argentinas.
"We are delighted to be here today together with the Economic and Commercial Councillor Alejandro Luppino and the head of the Promotion and Tourism Office, Vanesa Di Martino Creide, to welcome guests to this important promotional Argentinian tourism, food and wine event," concluded Ambassador Roberto Cales.
Aeroporti di Roma, an Atlantia Group company, manages and develops the Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino airports and carries out other activities related and complementary to airport management. Fiumicino has two passenger terminals and is dedicated to business and leisure customers on national, international and intercontinental routes; Ciampino is mainly used by low-cost airlines, express couriers and General Aviation activities. In 2019, ADR recorded, as an airport system, 49.4 million passengers with over 240 destinations worldwide that can be reached from Rome, thanks to the approximately 100 airlines operating in the two airports (In 2021, following the effects induced by Covid-19 on air transport, Fiumicino airport recorded just 11.7 million passengers, whilst Ciampino airport closed the year with 2.3 million passengers). Over the past five years, Aeroporti di Roma has received numerous awards, recognitions and quality certificates. Among these recognitions are the AIRPORT SERVICE QUALITY AWARD, awarded by ACI World for the category of European airports with more than 40 million passengers per year, for the years 2017 to 2021 for the high level of passenger satisfaction, and the ACI EUROPE BEST AIRPORT AWARD, category of airports with more than 40 million passengers per year for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022: the award, in this case, rewards the achievement of excellence in several disciplines, including security, operations, infrastructure, community relations, environmental awareness and customer care. Thanks to these achievements, in 2022 ACI World included ADR in the "Director General's Roll of Excellence", a roll of excellence to which only 64 out of more than 18,000 airports worldwide belong for the high levels of quality offered to their passengers. Since 2017 SKYTRAX has awarded Aeroporti di Roma the 4 STARS AIRPORT RATING, a certificate of excellence for its commitment to guaranteeing passengers the best possible experience. In 2018, Skytrax also awarded ADR WORLD'S MOST IMPROVED AIRPORT on the assessment of services experienced by passengers at various airports around the world. In 2022, ADR received the BEST AIRPORT STAFF IN EUROPE award from Skytrax for meeting precise parameters of friendliness and efficiency of customer service staff at the air terminal. During the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, Aeroporti di Roma distinguished itself with numerous health and safety awards: from ACI the AIRPORT HEALTH ACCREDITATION by ACI World on the compliance with health measures and protocols for 2020 and 2021, AIRPORT HEALTH MEASURES AUDIT PROGRAMME - ACI BUREAU VERITAS for 2020 on the effective implementation on the field of measures to combat COVID-19, by Skytrax COVID-19 SKYTRAX AIRPORT RATING 2020 on the efficiency of procedures and the COVID-19 AIRPORT EXCELLENCE AWARD 2021 for high health, hygiene and safety protocols during the pandemic. The RINA organisation also awarded Aeroporti di Roma with the BIOSAFETY TRUST CERTIFICATION in 2020. ADR also distinguished itself in terms of sustainability by receiving the LEADERSHIP IN SUSTAINABILITY AND COMMITMENT TO RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation in 2020. In 2021, linked to the SESAR - Single European Sky project, the ACI EUROPE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AWARD was awarded, recognising the airport's investment in the brand new Airport Operation Centre, and the implementation of the new innovation model centred on Open Innovation. In 2022 Plug and Play Tech Center, the largest private investment fund in Silicon Valley, awarded ADR the "Corporate Innovation Award" for its commitment to promoting open innovation initiatives and building an innovative "airport of the future".
EXTERNAL RELATIONS & SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORATE
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Analia Marinoff
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analia.marinoff@plaza-network.com
www.plazapremiumlounge.com