Verona Villafranca Airport
| Verona Airport Aeroporto di Verona-Villafranca | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
IATA: VRN – ICAO: LIPX
  VRN | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Civil / Military | ||
| Operator | GardaAeroporti | ||
| Serves | Verona, Italy | ||
| Location | Villafranca di Verona | ||
| Focus city for | |||
| Elevation AMSL | 240 ft / 73 m | ||
| Coordinates | 45°23′47″N 010°53′17″E / 45.39639°N 10.88806°ECoordinates: 45°23′47″N 010°53′17″E / 45.39639°N 10.88806°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 04/22 | 3,068 | 10,064 | Bituminous |
| Helipads | |||
| Number | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| H1 | 110 × 85 | 35 × 26 | Concrete |
| Statistics (2012) | |||
| Passengers | 3,198,788 | ||
| Passenger change 11-12 |  -5.5% | ||
| Aircraft movements | 36,015 | ||
| Movements change 11-12 | -4.7% | ||
| Source: Italian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] Statistics from Assaeroporti [2] | |||
Verona Villafranca Airport (IATA: VRN, ICAO: LIPX), also known as Valerio Catullo Airport or simply Villafranca Airport is an airport located 2.7 NM (5.0 km; 3.1 mi) southwest[1] of Verona, Italy. It is situated in the middle of the provinces of Brescia, Mantua, Rovigo, Vicenza, Trento, Bolzano and Verona, serving a population of more than four million inhabitants.
History
Verona Villafranca was a military airport during the First World War and opened to civil traffic in the early 1910s with some charter flights to the North of Europe and daily connections to Rome. At the end of the 1970s, thanks to the first community project developed by the Province, the Municipality and the Chamber of Commerce of Verona, Verona-Villafranca became a real air terminal with offices and facilities. The managing society "Aeroporto Valerio Catullo di Verona Villafranca Spa" was then established in December 1978 and was partially owned also by the Municipalities Villafranca and Sommacampagna, by the Provinces of Trentino (second main shareholder), Brescia, South Tyrol and by other local bodies.
In 1990, in order to cope with constantly growing air traffic, the terminal was expanded. The aircraft apron and car parking areas were enlarged, while access was improved by a connection to the new ring roads built for the World Cup.
In 1995 the airport reached the record of one million passengers per annum and only five years later, in 2001, the number of people carried grew to two million. In 2006 three million passengers were handled for the first time in one year.
In 1999 Valerio Catullo Airport reached the second position in the special classification of charter traffic after Milano Malpensa and before Roma Fiumicino.
In response to the constant passenger growth, the Catullo undertook a significant programme to expand its services and facilities for the increasing number of airport users. In May 2006 a new arrivals terminal was opened in the presence of Vice-Minister of Transport Cesare De Piccoli and Vice-President of Veneto Region Luca Zaia, immediately doubling terminal capacity. This enabled more space to be created for departures in the original Catullo building, which was further expanded by 3000 square meters.
In 2006 three million passengers used the airport for the first time. Growth continued, with 3,385,794 passengers in 2011. However, after an EU investigation of high subsidies granted to Ryanair led to Ryanair pulling out in 2012, passenger traffic has fallen in 2013.[3][4]
Verona airport is equipped with a fog-dispersal device, which is the best solution available in Italy and abroad in order to allow flying operations even in case of low visibility. This sophisticated system (which has been in operation since 2003), allows for ILS Category IIIB operation up to 75 m (246 ft) visibility.[5]
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled
Charter
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Summer Seasonal: Belfast-City (begins 20 May 2014) |
| Aegean Airlines | Summer Seasonal: Athens, Heraklion |
| Air Dolomiti | Summer Seasonal: Cork |
| AlbaStar | Summer Seasonal: Fuerteventura, Karpathos, Samos |
| Blue Panorama Airlines | Marsa Alam, Sharm El Sheik Summer Seasonal: Mersa Matruh |
| Flybe | Summer Seasonal: Dublin, Glasgow-International, Manchester |
| Globus | Summer Seasonal: Moscow-Domodedovo |
| Israir Airlines | Summer Seasonal: Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion |
| Livingston | Summer Seasonal: St Petersburg |
| Meridiana | Summer Seasonal: Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion |
| Mistral Air | Summer Seasonal: Samos, St Petersburg |
| Neos Air | Summer Seasonal: Heraklion, Ibiza, Luxor, Lanzarote |
| Nouvelair | Summer Seasonal: Djerba, Monastir |
| Thomas Cook Airlines | Winter Seasonal: Manchester |
| Thomson Airways | Winter Seasonal: Manchester |
| Tunisair | Winter Seasonal: Djerba, Monastir |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 EAD Basic
- ↑ Associazione Italiana Gestori Aeroportuali
- ↑ "'Contract Too Costly'". Corriera Della Serra. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Italian Airport Movement Stats June 2013". Assaeroporti. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ Verona Airport - Company Profile, retrieved 2008-01-12.
External links
Media related to Verona Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Official Site (Italian) (English) (German)
- Current weather for LIPX at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for VRN at Aviation Safety Network
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