Travellers to Rome Stranded As Police Impound Airport Buses

Travelers flying to Rome for a spring break this weekend may be in for a shock â€" the buses they were expecting would whisk them to the city center have been impounded by police.

A spokeswoman for Terravision, a British-based company that operates a service from and to Ciampino airport for passengers on low-cost airlines, told the Guardian: "The whole situation is unbelievable".

On Tuesday, Rome police, who had already sequestered half the company's fleet of 12 buses, impounded the remaining six. Terravision's marketing director, Yakuta Rajabali, said, in some cases, officers had boarded the vehicles, ordering off the passengers and their luggage.

Several hundred travelers with valid tickets were stranded either at Ciampino or in the center. Ms Rajabali did not know how many had missed flights because of the police action.

"We have blocked all ticket sales for Rome", Rajabali said. "However we have hundreds of passengers who have booked the service in advance online for travel in the next few days. We are doing everything we can to ensure these people somehow reach their end destination."

Ms Rajabali said the police, who are answerable to the city council, had claimed Terravision, which has run the service since 2002, did not have a valid license. "But we have had judgments from justices of the peace and the Rome civil court to say our service is perfectly legal."

The police struck at the company in a hiatus between the departure of one city administration and the arrival of another. Calls placed by the Guardian to spokespeople of the outgoing council and the municipal police went unanswered.

A spokesman for Rome's mayor-elect, Gianni Alemanno, said there was nothing he could do until he took office on Monday. "But he intends to call a meeting between representatives of Terravision and the municipal police early next week."

A spokeswoman for easyJet said: "We are confident that Terravision will rectify matters and that business will return to normal shortly."The UK-based firm operates services in 13 European cities. In Italy, it has become a symbol for the difficulties that can beset foreign firms. Since 2006 when a rival, Italian service began, it has been involved in unending controversy.

Buses it owns have been impounded before, though it had not till now lost its entire fleet. The company has taken legal action against individual police officers and the Italian government.