Alitalia has confirmed that it has been forced to cancel all departing flights from Rome Fiumicino until 2pm local time due to a fire at the airport.
Only long-haul services have been allowed to land at Rome’s main airport this morning.
“Delays and cancellations on the entire Alitalia’s network are expected all day long,” the airline warned.
“Alitalia invites all passengers leaving today from Rome Fiumicino not to reach the airport until it will be reopened.”
Passengers on cancelled flights can be rebooked on new Alitalia flights by changing their reservation by Sunday, or they can ask for refund, the airline added.
The carrier has arranged special flights to fly people who have been disrupted by the airport closure back to Rome from points in the US, Moscow and Tel Aviv.
Other aircraft are due to depart to European destinations “with the sole aim to relieve congestion in the airport and to reorganise the operations”.