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Verona Villafranca Airport

Coordinates: 45°23′47″N 010°53′17″E / 45.39639°N 10.88806°E / 45.39639; 10.88806 (Verona Airport)
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Verona Airport

Aeroporto di Verona-Villafranca
Summary
Airport typeCivil / military
OperatorGardaAeroporti
ServesVerona, Italy
LocationVillafranca di Verona, Veneto
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL240 ft / 73 m
Coordinates45°23′47″N 010°53′17″E / 45.39639°N 10.88806°E / 45.39639; 10.88806 (Verona Airport)
Websiteaeroportoverona.it
Map
VRN is located in Veneto
VRN
VRN
Location of the airport in Italy
VRN is located in Italy
VRN
VRN
VRN (Italy)
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 3,068 10,064 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface
m ft
H1 35 × 26 110 × 85 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passengers2,982,060
Passenger change 21-22Increase 104.4%
Movements25,047
Movements change 21-22Increase 62.9%
Cargo (tons)653.3
Cargo change 21-22Decrease -71.1%
Statistics from Assaeroporti[1]

Verona Villafranca Airport (IATA: VRN, ICAO: LIPX), also known as Valerio Catullo Airport or Villafranca Airport, is located 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Verona, Italy. The airport is situated next to the junction of A4 Milan-Venice and A22 Modena-Brenner motorways. It serves a population of more than 4 million inhabitants in the provinces of Verona, Brescia, Mantua, Trentino, and South Tyrol.

History

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Early years

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Villafranca Air Base was a military airport during the First World War. It became open to civil traffic in the early 1910s with daily scheduled connections to Rome and charter flights to destinations in northern Europe.

Towards the late 1970s, under the first community project by the Province of Verona, Comune of Verona and the local Chamber of Commerce, Villafranca Airport constructed a passenger terminal, offices and handling facilities. The managing society, Aeroporto Valerio Catullo di Verona Villafranca S.P.A., was established in December 1978. Ownership is currently shared between provincial governments from Veneto (Villafranca di Verona and Sommacampagna), Lombardy (Province of Brescia), Trentino (second main shareholder) and Alto Adige/Südtirol.

Expansion in the 1990s and 2000s

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In 1990, the passenger terminal was expanded in order to cope with the constantly growing air traffic. The aircraft apron and car-parking areas were enlarged; in addition, access to the airport was improved by a road link to Verona's new ring road (SS12) in preparation for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

In 1995, the airport reached a record of handling one million passengers per annum. In 1999, the airport became Italy's second-grade airport in the 'Special Classification of Charter Traffic' and ranked after Milan Malpensa Airport and Rome Fiumicino Airport.

During the Bosnian War, the airport was used by NATO aircraft as a staging area.[2]

Passenger numbers continued to grow: 2 million per year in 2001 and 3 million per year in 2006. In response to the strong demand in patronage, the airport undertook a significant expansion programme on its services and facilities. In May 2006, a new arrivals terminal, Terminal 2, was opened by the Vice-Minister of Transport, Cesare De Piccoli, and Vice-President of Veneto Region, Luca Zaia. This additional terminal is situated immediately next to the original building, now known as Terminal 1. As a result of the expansion programme, the airport's capacity doubled. Hence Terminal 1 is used solely for departures and Terminal 2 for arrivals.

2010s

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Air traffic continued to grow during the 2010s, with 3,385,794 passengers recorded in 2011. After a European Union investigation into high subsidies being granted to Ryanair on their scheduled routes, the airline pulled out of Villafranca Airport in 2012. This caused a reduction in passenger traffic in 2013.[3][4]

In 2015, Ryanair reintroduced services to the airport with scheduled flights to Palermo, London Stansted and Brussels. Several airlines have switched their charter routes to regular services during the Winter Season 2015-16: Finnair flies between Verona and Helsinki and AirBaltic flies between Verona and Riga. The route between Paris and Verona, as operated by Air France, however, ceased operation in late October 2015, having been replaced with flights operated by its low-cost subsidiary, Transavia.

Facilities

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Verona-Villafranca Airport is equipped with a fog-dispersal device, so that flight operations could continue during times of low visibility. This system has been in operation since 2003 and allows pilots to land in visibility as low as 75 m (246 ft). The runway is certified for ILS Category IIIb approach.[5]

The two terminals, departures and arrivals, are situated next to each other. The departures' hall hosts check-in facilities at the eastern side. The lounge is located on the first floor's eastern wing. The main bus stand is located directly outside the arrivals' hall.

Airlines and destinations

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The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Verona Villafranca Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Aer Lingus Dublin
Seasonal charter: Belfast–City[6]
AeroItaliaSeasonal: Alghero[7]
Air Albania Seasonal: Tirana[8]
Air Cairo Seasonal: Cairo,[9] Luxor
Air Dolomiti Frankfurt, Munich
Air France Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle[10]
airBaltic Seasonal: Riga
Arkia Seasonal: Tel Aviv
Bees Airlines Bucharest-Otopeni,[11] Chișinău[11]
Bluebird Airways Seasonal: Tel Aviv
British Airways London–Gatwick[12]
easyJet London–Gatwick
Eurowings Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg
Seasonal charter: Copenhagen[13]
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
FlyOne Chișinău
Icelandair Reykjavik-Keflavik[14]
Israir Airlines Seasonal: Tel Aviv[15]
Jet2.com[16] Manchester[17]
Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bournemouth (begins 29 July 2026),[citation needed] Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, London-Luton (begins 2 July 2025),[18]London–Stansted, Newcastle upon Tyne
Neos Fuerteventura, La Romana, Marsa Alam, Sharm El Sheikh
Seasonal: Amritsar, Brindisi, Cagliari, Cancún (begins 22 December 2024),[19] Catania, Dakar–Diass, Enfidha, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Ibiza, Karpathos, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Malé, Marsa Matruh, Menorca, Monastir, Montego Bay, Mykonos, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Reykjavík–Keflavík, Rhodes, Santorini, Tel Aviv, Tenerife–South, Zanzibar
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Oslo
Play Seasonal: Reykjavík–Keflavík[20]
Ryanair Bari, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Charleroi, Dublin, Lamezia Terme, London–Stansted,[21] Madrid,[22][23] Manchester, Naples, Palermo, Valencia[22][23]
Seasonal: Corfu, Palma de Mallorca, Porto[22]
Sky Alps Rome–Fiumicino,
Seasonal: Brač,[24] Mostar,[25] Zadar[26]
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam
TUI Airways Seasonal: Birmingham, Bristol,[27] Glasgow, London–Gatwick, London–Stansted (begins 21 December 2024),[citation needed] Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
Volotea Berlin, Bordeaux,[28] Cagliari, Catania, Comiso,[29] Copenhagen, Madrid, Olbia, Palermo, Paris–Orly, Prague, Valencia
Seasonal: Alghero, Athens, Barcelona, Heraklion, Lampedusa, Pantelleria, Salerno,[30] Santorini, Zakynthos
Wizz Air Catania, Chișinău (begins 16 December 2024),[31] Tirana
Seasonal: Gdańsk, Poznań

Statistics

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Check-in area
Annual passenger traffic at VRN airport. See Wikidata query.
Year Passengers
2000 2 293 799
2001 2 188 068
2002 2 185 785
2003 2 452 723
2004 2 687 565
2005 2 649 655
2006 3 007 965
2007 3 510 259
2008 3 402 601
2009 3 065 968
2010 3 022 784
2011 3 385 794
2012 3 198 788
2013 2 719 815
2014 2 775 616
2015 2 591 255
2016 2 807 811
2017 3 099 142
2018 3 453 404
2019 3 638 088
2020 1 040 555

Ground transportation

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A shuttle bus service, Aerobus (199) operated by ATV, connects Verona-Villafranca Airport directly with Verona Porta Nuova station.[32][33] During the summer months (June to September), ATV (Verona) buses 164, 183 and 184 additionally provide hourly connections between Verona-Villafranca Airport en route to comunes along Lake Garda/Lago di Garda.

Incidents and accidents

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On 13 December 1995, Banat Air Flight 166, an Antonov An-24 (YR-AMR), operated by Romavia for Banat Air, crashed into the ground shortly after takeoff from Verona Airport due to a stall. The reason was that the machine had not been de-iced despite snowfall. In addition, it was overloaded by at least two tons. All 49 people on board were killed.

References

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  1. ^ "Statistiche Dicembre 2022". 24 January 2022.
  2. ^ "War planes preparing for Bosnia". The Milwaukee Journal. August 1993. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  3. ^ "Contract Too Costly". Corriera Della Serra. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Italian Airport Movement Stats June 2013". Assaeroporti. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  5. ^ Verona Airport – Company Profile Archived 21 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 12 January 2008.
  6. ^ "Seasonal schedule | Verona Airport".
  7. ^ "Seasonal schedule ; Verona Airport". 17 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Air Albania reopens to Bologna, Pisa Verona". italiavola. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  9. ^ "AIR CAIRO NW24 EUROPE NETWORK ADDITIONS – 22AUG24". aeroroutes.com. 23 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Air France-KLM: New routes for summer 2024 -December 21, 2023 at 12:16 pm EST | MarketScreener". 21 December 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Bees Airlines Romania Outlines Scheduled Network From August 2024". AeroRoutes.
  12. ^ "BA EuroFlyer NW24 Europe Frequency Changes – 27OCT24". Aeroroutes. Aeroroutes. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Eurowings 1Q24 Copenhagen – Verona Charters". AeroRoutes.
  14. ^ Liu, Jim. "Icelandair Adds Seasonal Verona Service in NW23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Israir NS24 Leased Smartwings Boeing 737 Operations". AeroRoutes. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Flight Timetable". jet2.com.
  17. ^ "Jet2 expands ski programme with Verona flights".
  18. ^ "Jet2 Expands Luton Airport Routes with Direct Flights to Girona, Verona, and Madeira, Enhancing European Travel Access".
  19. ^ "Neos Adds Verona – Cancun Sector in NW24". AeroRoutes.
  20. ^ Liu, Jim (8 May 2023). "Play NW23 Network Additions - 08May23". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Ryanair Moves Additional Routes to Ryanair UK in NS23". Aeroroutes.
  22. ^ a b c "Ryanair".
  23. ^ a b "Ryanair NS24 Network Additions Summary – 14JUL24". AeroRoutes.
  24. ^ "Sky Alps Expands Verona Network in NS24". AeroRoutes.
  25. ^ "Skyalps schedules Mostar flights launch". www.flyingbosnian.blogspot.com.
  26. ^ "SkyAlps najavio dvije linije iz Italije prema Hrvatskoj". croatianaviation.com. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  27. ^ "Flights with TUI | Thomson now TUI Airways".
  28. ^ "Volotea NS24 Network Expansion Summary – 04FEB24". AeroRoutes.
  29. ^ "Dopo il Torino, Volotea annuncia il Comiso-Verona". 15 November 2023.
  30. ^ "Volotea NW24 Network Additions – 11AUG24". AeroRoutes.
  31. ^ https://boardingpass.ro/wizz-air-redeschide-baza-de-la-chisinau-si-redeschide-opt-rute-aeriene/
  32. ^ "Aerobus | Verona Airport". Aeroportoverona.it. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  33. ^ "Sezione1 - Bus routes and timetables - Catullo airport service".
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Media related to Verona Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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