NAPLES AND SALERNO AIRPORTS

Dates, facts and curiosities

 

1811 - Marie Sophie Blanchard, the first woman in history to fly, takes a hot-air balloon flight over Champ de Mars, in the presence of the then King of Naples Gioacchino Murat

1910 - The "aviation tests" begin: first aircraft exhibitions on Champ de Mars

1918 – Champ de Mars becomes a military airport to ensure defence against air attacks on the city of Naples

1921 - The military airport is named after Lieutenant Ugo Niutta

1926 - Salerno airport was created as landing airstrip by Military Engineering Corps

1933 - A provincial, later national, gliding school is established in Salerno

1950 - Naples airport opens to commercial traffic

1962 - Kennedy family lands at Salerno Airport

1980 - the company Gesac – “Gestione Servizi Aeroporti Campani” is set up between the Municipality and Province of Naples and Alitalia

1982 - Gesac changes its name to 'Gestione Servizi Aeroporti Campani'.

1995 - Gesac and BAA plc draw up the Naples Airport Master Plan, starting a 20-years investment programme with an initial value of 145 million euros.

1997 - Gesac is the first airport management company in Italy to be privatised. BAA plc acquires 70 per cent of the shares from the Municipality and the Province

1998 - Shareholders' meeting resolves on a capital increase from ITL 2.5 billion to ITL 25 billion

2000 - Go, the low-cost airline of British Airways, inaugurates the "low-cost" market

2001 - Opening of the second entrance road to the civil airport

2002 – H.R.H. Charles of England inaugurates the new departures lounge

2003 - Gesac achieves the airport total management concession for 40 years

2005 – The first Naples – New York flight operated by Eurofly air carrier

2006 - The Consortium ADI - Airport Development Investment Ltd - led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group, acquires the ownership of the BAA Group, becoming GESAC major shareholder

2010 - The Ferrovial Group sells 65% of Gesac to F2i SGR, the largest independent Italian manager of infrastructure funds

2013 - The Salerno Airport is listed between the 31 airports of national interest in the National Plan for the Airport Development

2014 - easyJet opens its base in Naples

2017 - Naples airport achieves the ACI Europe Award as best European airport in the 5-10 million passengers category

2017 - Inaugurated in Naples the first archaeological route inside an airport

2017 - Ryanair opens its base in Naples

2019 – Inaugurated the first direct flights to New York, operated by United – the first North American airline to operate in Southern Italy, and to Dubay, by flydubai 

2019 - the merger by incorporation of the Airport Salerno Costa D'Amalfi SpA in Ge.S.A.C. SpA leds to the creation of Campania airports network

2019 - Reached the milestone of 10 million passengers in a year

2020 - Volotea opens its base in Naples

2021 – Wizz Air opens its base in Naples

2022 - Naples Airport achieves ACA 4 + Transition: the highest level of environmental certification for airports