Reggio di Calabria "Tito Minniti" Airport , also known as Aeroporto dello Stretto (''Airport of the Strait'') is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

located in Reggio Calabria, in southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It serves mainly the Metropolitan City of Reggio and the Province of Messina, and partially the Province of Vibo Valentia; more than 1,350,000 people. Daily flights depart and arrive for and from several Italian cities, and are seasonally augmented by flights to various other countries.

History

Reggio military airport was inaugurated in 1939 (the first airport in Calabria), becoming operative for commercial flights in 1947; later it was named after Italian Royal Air Force war-hero Tito Minniti, who was born in Reggio Calabria. Its IATA airport code REG is derived from Reggio, Calabria's main city, which the airport is closest to. On the outskirts of the airport the training grounds of local football club

Reggina Calcio Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are nic ...

are located. In March 2017,

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...

announced it would terminate all 56 weekly flights to and from the airport (to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

) stating all routes were heavily loss-making. However, this decision was revoked shortly after. In summer 2017, Sacal S.p.A. (Società aeroportuale calabrese), also managing

Lamezia Terme Lamezia Terme (), commonly called Lamezia, is an Italian city and ''comune'' of 70,452 inhabitants (2013), in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region. Geography Lamezia is located on the eastern border of the coastal plain commonly cal ...

, took over the management of the airport. , the only destinations served by the airport are Rome, Milan and Turin (seasonal).

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Reggio Calabria Airport:

Statistics

Ground transport

The Reggio Calabria Airport is approximately 5 kilometres south from Reggio's historic city centre. It is accessible by car or public transport. The airport is reachable in 7 minutes by regional trains from Reggio Calabria Centrale or Melito di Porto Salvo. Even the airport railway station has faced criticism by the local community, due to its 2 km distance from the terminal and the low number of passengers which use it. Otherwise, the airport is reachable by bus routes 27 and 27/ from the University and San Brunello and by the Port-Airport direct route, all of which are operated by ATAM and with nearby towns and ports by various provincial bus operators. There was also a projected pier to allow the docking of the ferries from Messina, allowing the residents of the Sicilian city to use the Reggio Calabria Airport instead of driving 200 km south to Catania Airport. This pier was built, but the prevailing winds did not allow the ferries to dock. This issue, together with low passenger numbers have caused the pier to be abandoned and used by fishermen, becoming a symbol of waste of public money.

References

External links

*
AeroportiCalabria.com
- Info and offers for the passengers that are flying from the Airports of Lamezia, Reggio Calabria and Crotone *
airliners.net - Photogallery
{{authority control Airports in Italy

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

Transport in Calabria Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Italy Airports established in 1939