| Abruzzo Airport | |
| Iata: | PSR |
| Icao: | LIBP |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | S.A.G.A. S.p.A. |
| City-Served: | Pescara |
| Elevation-F: | 48 |
| Elevation-M: | 15 |
| Pushpin Map: | Italy |
| Pushpin Label: | PSR |
| Website: | abruzzo-airport.it |
| Metric-Rwy: | Yes |
| R1-Number: | 04/22 |
| R1-Length-F: | 7,936 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2,419 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat1-Header: | Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 715,690 |
| Stat2-Data: | 87.7 |
| Stat3-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat3-Data: | 13,719 |
| Stat4-Data: | 12.5 |
| Stat-Year: | 2022 |
| Footnotes: | Source: Italian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] Statistics from Assaeroporti[2] |
Abruzzo Airport [3] is an international airport serving Pescara, Italy. It is located approximately 4km (02miles) from the centre of Pescara, about 180km (110miles) from Rome, a 2-hour drive by car on a motorway across the Apennine mountains. The airport is located on the state road 5 Via Tiburtina Valeria and is well connected to important roads (Autostrada A25, Autostrada A14, SS714 Tangenziale di Pescara) and railway connections (Rome–Sulmona–Pescara railway, Adriatic railway).
Being the only international airport in the Abruzzo region, it plays a fundamental role for the transportation and aerial connection of the area and for that of neighbouring regions; catering also for people from Molise, Marche and the Gargano area. The airport has seen a steady increase in the number of transit passengers over the years, mainly due to a growth in low-cost airlines and flights. The terminal built in 1996 has been extended in 2011 and recently restructured in 2018.
The history of the airport starts in 1917 when, after the bombing of Pescara by bombers of the k.u.k. Luftfahrtruppen, the aerial component of the Austro-Hungarian Army, along the Via Tiburtina Valeria road a military airfield is built by the Regio Esercito, which arrived on 26 October 1917 with two Farman 14. On 31 July 1918 the 302° Squadron is formed, equipped with biplanes Ansaldo SVA, among the best fighter-bombers of the time.
From 1921, the airport has been named after Pasquale Liberi, an aviator friend of the famous poet Gabriele d'Annunzio. In 1927 the airport was extended to 50 hectares and modernized.
In the 1930s, with the start of commercial aviation, the airline Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM) started in 1933 a triweekly service from Pescara to Rome Urbe Airport, with an intermediate stop at the airfield of Piana di Bagno near L'Aquila.[4]
After WWII, the first airline to restart commercial service was Società anonima di navigazione aerea transadriatica (Transadriatica), which inaugurated the service Pescara-Roma-Urbe on 5 May 1947 using a Douglas DC-3.[5] At the same time, Transadriatica started another interesting route: Venezia-Ancona-Pescara-Brindisi-Catania. Furthermore, the airline Avio Linee Italiane decided to start a route connecting North to South Italy for the first time: Milan-Pescara-Foggia-Bari-Brindisi.[6]
Itavia, constituted in 1958 to operate between secondary airports not served by Alitalia, opened its first route Pescara-Roma-Urbe on 15 July 1959 with a 8-seats de Havilland Dove. With the development of Itavia also the number of routes increased between the end of 1960s and beginning of 1970s, including Roma, Milano, Ancona, Crotone, Forlì, Lecce, Bergamo, Bologna, Treviso-Venezia, Catania and Palermo.
In 1973, the English historian Bruce Barrymore Halpenny, then living in Abruzzo, organised a British Caledonian BAC 111 to take off from Genoa Airport to Pescara to test the feasibility of the approach and landing at Pescara of a large commercial aircraft.[7] With the British Caledonian chief pilot being an ex-RAF pilot and Halpenny (also Ex-RAF) on board this maneuver was successfully accomplished, opening up the airport and the region for tourism. Halpenny then arranged for a British Caledonian BAC 111 to take off from Gatwick Airport, land in Pescara and return to Gatwick, demonstrating the feasibility of commercial flights to the airport.
As of 1 February 1979, Itavia was forced to suspend its flights to Pescara due to the revision of the minimum landing requirements on some Italian airports implemented by ANPAC, the National Association of Civil Aviation Pilots. The raise of the requirements in question (distance to the runway and altitude at which the pilot must decide whether to continue the landing) were dependent on proper radio support (such as ILS, Instrument Landing System) and a clear view to allow the landing of aircraft in conditions of poor visibility. Such instruments were not installed at the time at the airport. Itavia itself was never going to be back at the airport, as it ceased operations in June 1980, after the Ustica disaster.
After the dark period during which the airport did not have any connection, the situation improved with the reopening of a route to Milano through Ancona, operated by Aermediterranea, a company belonging to Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI) and controlled by Alitalia, which was operated between 1981 and 1983.
From 1984, the flight to Milan Linate Airport was managed by another company of the Alitalia group: Aero Trasporti Italiani (ATI), based in Naples. In 1988, it was the turn of Alitalia itself to operate the much-sought direct connection to Milan, using the modern McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliners until 1994.[8]
Air One was founded as Aliadriatica in 1983 as a flight school and air taxi company for services in Abruzzo. From 1994, it was this company who took operation of the route to Milan.
In 1996, the current terminal opened and the old building was converted for technical and logistical support. The project enabled the airport to offer more comfort and efficiency of service.
In 2010, Canadian airline Air Transat began flying a seasonal nonstop flight to Toronto operated with an Airbus A310.[9] This service was discontinued in 2012[10]
The development of the airport, which has seen an increment of passengers from 114,000 in 2000 to over 600,000 in 2015, is mainly due to the low-cost phenomenon that has affected all of Europe and most small Italian airports, benefiting Pescara.
Today the airport has a catchment area of over 600,000 passengers annually and connects the city of Pescara and the entire region with many Italian and European destinations, in particular with the services offered by the airlines Ryanair and Volotea.[11]
A series of development works have been carried out between 2008 and 2018 at the airport. Those completed at July 2019 include:[12] [13]
The master plan of development and modernization of the airport includes further upgrading works of both the airside and landside areas, for an overall cost of 33 Euro million. The works include:[20]
Currently the building of the old passenger terminal has been converted to a warehouse; it was employed by the airline cargo TNT Airlines up to December 2008 and by Maersk Air until October 2010.
A journalistic investigation carried out in September 2018 revealed that Abruzzo Airport has the cheapest airport parking in Italy.[21]
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Pescara Abruzzo Airport:
| 1996 | 71,908 | 4,052 | 152 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 72,962 | 2,86 | 4,618 | 13,9 | 195 | 28,3 |
| 1998 | 104 000 | 42,54 | 6,390 | 38,4 | 56 | -71,3 |
| 1999 | 105 500 | 1,44 | 6,310 | 1,25 | 476 | 750 |
| 2000 | 114,024 | 8,08 | 9,940 | 57,5 | 2.851 | 499 |
| 2001 | 153,227 | 34,4 | 6,775 | -31,8 | 3.115 | 9,3 |
| 2002 | 295,875 | 93,1 | 11,559 | 70,6 | 1.913 | -38,6 |
| 2003 | 301,773 | 2,0 | 10,932 | -5,4 | 1.795 | -6,2 |
| 2004 | 334,998 | 10,9 | 10,075 | -7,8 | 2.151 | 19,8 |
| 2005 | 350,447 | 4,7 | 10,339 | 2,6 | 2.390 | 11,1 |
| 2006 | 340,699 | -2,8 | 12,139 | 17,4 | 2.849 | 19,2 |
| 2007 | 371,247 | 9,0 | 12,085 | -0,4 | 3.291 | 15,5 |
| 2008 | 402.845 | 8,5 | 11.128 | -7,9 | 3.339 | 1,5 |
| 2009 | 409.045 | 1,5 | 9.773 | -12,2 | 2.431 | -27,2 |
| 2010 | 461.086 | 12,7 | 7.971 | -18,4 | 2.116 | -13,0 |
| 2011 | 550.062 | 19,3 | 7.827 | -1,8 | 1.472 | -43,7 |
| 2012 | 563.187 | 2,4 | 8.284 | 5,8 | 1.221 | 1,8 |
| 2013 | 548.217 | -2,7 | 8.017 | -3,2 | 721,1 | -40,9 |
| 2014 | 556.679 | 1,5 | 6.738 | -15,95 | 44 | -93,9 |
| 2015 | 613.427 | 10,2 | 10.469 | 55,4 | 42 | -4,2 |
| 2016 | 572.217 | -6,6 | 8.850 | -14,3 | 69,5 | 65,5 |
| 2017 | 667.831 | +16,7 | 15.331 | +73,2 | 52 | -25,2 |
| 2018 | 666.691 | -0,2 | 13.456 | -12,2 | 72 | 38,5 |
| 2019 | 703.386 | 5,5 | 12.880 | -4,3 | 276 | 283,3 |
| 2020 | 173.156 | -75,4 | 10.397 | -19,3 | 44 | -84,1 |
| 2021 | 381 241 | 120,2 | 11.827 | 13,8 | 21 | -52,3 |
| 2022 | 715,690 | |||||
| 2023 | 872,701 |
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BarData= bar:1996 text:1996 bar:1997 text:1997 bar:1998 text:1998 bar:1999 text:1999 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2002 text:2002 bar:2003 text:2003 bar:2004 text:2004 bar:2005 text:2005 bar:2006 text:2006 bar:2007 text:2007 bar:2008 text:2008 bar:2009 text:2009 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2012 text:2012 bar:2013 text:2013 bar:2014 text:2014 bar:2015 text:2015 bar:2016 text:2016 bar:2017 text:2017 bar:2018 text:2018 bar:2019 text:2019 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2021 text:2021 bar:2022 text:2022 bar:2023 text:2023PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:center bar:1996 from:0 till: 71 bar:1997 from:0 till: 72 bar:1998 from:0 till: 104 bar:1999 from:0 till: 105 bar:2000 from:0 till: 114 bar:2001 from:0 till: 153 bar:2002 from:0 till: 295 bar:2003 from:0 till: 301 bar:2004 from:0 till: 334 bar:2005 from:0 till: 350 bar:2006 from:0 till: 340 bar:2007 from:0 till: 371 bar:2008 from:0 till: 402 bar:2009 from:0 till: 409 bar:2010 from:0 till: 461 bar:2011 from:0 till: 550PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:center
bar:2012 from:0 till: 563 bar:2013 from:0 till: 548 bar:2014 from:0 till: 556 bar:2015 from:0 till: 613 bar:2016 from:0 till: 572 bar:2017 from:0 till: 667 bar:2018 from:0 till: 666 bar:2019 from:0 till: 703 bar:2020 from:0 till: 173 bar:2021 from:0 till: 381 bar:2022 from:0 till: 716PlotData= color:barra2 width:20 align:center
bar:2023 from:0 till:873TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Evolution in the number of passengers since 1996 (in thousands of passengers).
The airport is connected to the center of Pescara with the TUA (regional public transportation company) bus lines 8 and 38, with which it is possible to reach Piazza della Repubblica, the Bus Terminal serving domestic and international destinations. The bus lines 8 and 38 pass also near the main railway station in the city, Pescara railway station.
The airport is connected to the center of Pescara and Chieti with the TUA Chieti-Pescara line, with which it is possible to reach the university campus "G. D'Annunzio" in Chieti Scalo. The TUA stop is opposite to the pedestrian exit of the airport park on Via Tiburtina Valeria.
In addition, the airport is planned to be served in the future by the new trolleybus system currently under construction, the first phrase of which will connect the Pescara railway station with Montesilvano, starting in 2023 or 2024.