Salerno takes off in a month. Terminals, companies and destinations: what is known so far
When Denver, Colorado, got an entirely new airport in the mid-1990s, the roof of the main building at [...]
Volotea
easyJet
QSR
When Denver, Colorado, got an entirely new airport in the mid-1990s, the white 'pinnacle' roof of the main building became iconic: the reference, the architects said, was to the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains surrounding the 'Mile High City.' But someone else saw there 'tepees' the tents of Native Americans.
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Such was, however, the impact of that roofing that it has since become one of the distinctive elements in the construction of some of the new terminals built around the world in the past three decades. Such is the case, for example, in Astana, Kazakhstan, where the undulating glass roof of the terminal built eight years ago is intended to evoke the waves of the Caspian Sea. It will be so, in 2025, for the new terminal in Malé (in this case the 'waves' are those of the Indian Ocean).
And the same will happen, In 2026, in the new terminal of the Salerno-Costa d'Amalfi airport., where architects have inspired by the canvas roofs supported by wooden poles of the famous lemon houses to build the roof of the new terminal, which will replace the one existing today.
One month from now, July 11, Campania airport will reopen to commercial air traffic equipped with brand-new 'airside' infrastructure. Work that began in 2020 resulted in the repaving of the aircraft apron, the resurfacing of taxiways and, most importantly, the runway, which was also lengthened from the previous 1,650 meters to the current 2,000 meters, allowing takeoffs and landings to aircraft in the A320 and Boeing 737 family category.
Previously, scheduled flights had been operated between 2008 and 2013 by a number of companies, including Air Dolomiti, SkyBridge AirOps, Danube Wings, and, between December 2010 and March 2012, Alitalia. In spring-summer 2016, the Maltese carrier Medavia had operated seasonal charter flights there. Then, practically nothing.
Competing for the first landing in Salerno on July 11 will be an Airbus A319 from Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea from Nantes and an easyjet A320 from Milano. We at The Flight Club will be rooting for the latter, since that day. we will be on board the flight from Malpensa.
The flight plan for summer-autumn 2024 is quite modest for now: Volotea and easyjet will be the only two carriers present at the 'Amalfi Coast. At the biweekly connection with Nantes, the Spanish low-cost will add one with Cagliari (also biweekly) from July 13 and, from September 2, those with Verona and Catania, also biweekly.
Easyjet, for his part, in addition to Milan (connected on a tri-weekly basis) will also serve Berlin, Geneva and Basel from July 12 and its main hub of London Gatwick from July 13 (all biweekly connections). Doing a quick count, operations will increase to 19 weekly flights in early September (assuming other carriers do not choose to be in the game in the meantime).
But, with that name ('Amalfi Coast') and with an enviable location in the town of Pontecagnano (21km south of Salerno) in some 30 kilometers from the capital of the Amalfi Coast., as many from Paestum and an hour's drive from Palinuro and (slightly more) from Maratea, the airport stands as an excellent alternative to Naples-Capodichino for that leisure traffic who prefers to avoid the time and stress involved in leaving the metropolitan area of Campania's capital city, while also taking less time to reach his or her final destination.
For about a year, passengers will use the terminal built in 2007. Then, according to the plans of Gesac (the Capodichino airport operator itself), they will be Temporarily housed in the general aviation terminal that will open its doors in 2025.
Finally, by the end of 2026, they will move to the brand new terminal that will be built in place of the current one (which will be demolished).
The facility, which will be built on two floors with check-in and arrivals on the ground floor and departures on the second floor where five boarding bridges will be installed, will be able to handle up to 3.5 million passengers a year, with an expansion to 5.5 million planned within two decades.
It will also be Italy's first new airport terminal built from scratch since 2005, when the one in Bari Palese was built.
