The history of the capital’s airports begins in 1916, the year in which Ciampino “Giovan Battista Pastine” Airport was inaugurated in Via Appia, for airships and military purposes until 1947.

It was the capital’s only airport until 15 January 1961, when the “Leonardo da Vinci” international airport was inaugurated.

With respect to the original project, the extensions carried out were noteworthy and transformed the original structure, making it the first Rome airport project in continuous evolution.

On 12 February 1974, with the founding of Aeroporti di Roma all the activities were assigned to a sole handler, which became a sole concessionaire for the management and development of the capital’s airport system.

In more recent years, in July 1997 to be exact, the privatization of Aeroporti di Roma S.p.A, was initiated by putting 45% of the share capital on the market with both a public offering and private placement, for Italian and foreign institutional investors. Privatization was completed in 2000, with the divestment of shares held by the state.

Over the years the many development and modernization interventions at the two airports, have permitted ADR to respond effectively to the increase in the volume of traffic.

In 2019, ADR recorded, as an airport system, 49.4 million passengers with more than 240 destinations worldwide that can be reached from Rome, thanks to the approximately 100 airlines operating at the two airports (In 2022, following the effects induced by Covid - 19 on air transport, Fiumicino airport recorded approximately 29.4 million passengers while Ciampino airport closed the year with 3.5 million passengers).Over the last five years, Aeroporti di Roma has received numerous awards, recognitions and quality certificates. The main ones 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. As a result of 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 very high levels of quality offered to their passengers.

In 2017, SKYTRAX awarded Aeroporti di Roma the 4 STARS AIRPORT RATING, a certificate of excellence for its commitment to providing passengers with 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. RINA also awarded Aeroporti di Roma 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".

“Leonardo da Vinci” is the “main hub airport” for scheduled and charter international and intercontinental traffic. Rome Ciampino Giovan Battista Pastine Airport is instead, the airport for low cost traffic, “express courier” goods and General Aviation traffic (state, humanitarian and civil defence flights).