MILAN — A fire that broke out early Thursday morning at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport has damaged the Terminal 3 shopping section, located beyond the security line. Major check-in areas at the terminal are already operational again, although roughly half of Fiumicino’s flights scheduled Thursday and Friday were canceled, according to airport officials.
A spokeswoman for Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) said about 10 brands had stores in the affected area, which remains closed. She could not provide details about the damage.
AdR brought in workers from Belfor, a disaster recovery firm, this morning, and the task force will be on the job 24 hours a day to clean the terminal. “This operation will allow the reopening of Terminal 3’s Gate D to passengers within a week,” the group said in a statement.
Bulgari has a shop in Terminal 3, a spokeswoman for the luxury jeweler confirmed, noting that she did not yet have information about the store’s condition.
A Gucci spokeswoman also reported that the fashion brand’s Fiumicino store was closed, and “evaluations of the damage are currently underway.”
A representative for Burberry, which has two Fiumicino boutiques, said both were closed, and the fashion firm’s primary concern was the welfare of its employees, who were unhurt in the incident; Burberry will not reopen the locations until they are deemed safe.
While local media reports initially suggested the fire had been started intentionally, by Friday the focus had shifted to an apparent electrical short-circuit.