World Bulletin / News Desk 

Rome's Fiumicino airport, Italy's busiest air traffic hub, will cut operations to 60 percent of capacity from Saturday, just before the start of the summer holiday season, following damage from a fire last month.

Air transport authority Enac said the cut in capacity, which will lead to the gradual shutdown of arrivals at Terminal 3, would begin at midnight (2200 GMT) on Friday. There was no indication on how long it was expected to last.

It said the decision was taken because of concerns over the security risk from overcrowding. Prosecutors investigating the May 7 blaze have closed part of the airport, which has been operating at 80 percent of capacity since the fire.

Airport operator Aeroporti di Roma, part of motorways group Atlantia SpA, initially asked authorities last month for approval for the reduction because of health concerns about lingering air pollution from chemicals released in the fire.

Italy's national carrier Alitalia said it would concentrate check-in operations in Terminal 1, while Air France-KLM said it expected to reduce services from Rome.

Fiumicino handled almost 39 million arrivals and departures last year, more than twice as many as its nearest rival Milan Malpensa, according to data from airport industry association Assaeroporti.