Do you have a stopover at Linate? Be careful, because it can be very complicated (and long)
Have you ever had a layover at Linate? Here's why it's rare and complicated
LIN
Transit yes or transit no? The question has been hovering over Linate for a long time, after several decrees-laws (the latest being the Giovannini Decree of 2022)-have 'packed' the Milanese city airport into a rather rigid regulatory box that makes it limits operations to destinations in EU countries (or who have close special relations with the EU) Within a radius of 1,500km and served exclusively by narrow-body aircraft (no widebodies).
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However, the name of Linate as an exclusively point-to-point airport needs to be debunked. In fact, there is no government or Enac regulation preventing transit at Linate with a single ticket and PNR, checking in at the airport of departure of the trip and then picking up the luggage directly at the destination. Exactly as happens tens of thousands of times a day at Rome Fiumicino. Or with flights in transit through hubs around the world.
In this sense, Linate is a hub in its own right. And Ita Airways has several Italy-Europe or Europe-Italy connections that 'pass through' the city airport every day, with one ticket and one check-in at the airport where the trip begins.
However, it is a somewhat peculiar hub e passing you through can be quite complicated due to the absence of a transit area. In particular, the transit it becomes more complex and time-consuming if the plane with which you arrive at Linate uses a gate bus, that is, it is parked on the apron and you reach the terminal with a SEA bus.
Because, in this case, while your luggage will still be 'routed' on the onward flight to your final destination, you you will be required to exit the arrivals area, go up to the departures and go through security again in order to re-enter the departures area.
An operation that, at peak times, can take a long time and that is why ITA Airways (which is the only airline making connections through Linate) does not offer tight connection times between its flights.
For example, flying from Bari to Brussels via Linate (with a single ticket, we repeat), the 'tightest' connection is to depart Bari at 1:35 p.m. and arrive in Brussels at 7:15 p.m., with a stopover in Linate of 2 hours and 40 minutes.
The 'narrower' one between Naples and Brussels lasts 2 hours, departing Capodichino at 2:15 p.m., arriving at Linate at 3:40 p.m. and departing back to the Belgian capital at 5:40 p.m.
Browsing the website of the 'national' airline no connections can be found via Linate under two hours. Sure, if your flight arriving from Bari, Naples, or any other city 'lands' at one of the fingers in the Milan terminal, everything gets easier, because from there you can proceed directly to the gate of your connecting flight, whether it in turn leaves from a finger or from the apron and you have to use the bus to get there.
But the hypothesis is rather remote, considering at Linate there are just five fingers. And then the point is that you can't know whether or not your first flight is going to get to a finger until the engines are turned off.
The creation of a transit area, with a route that would allow all passengers transiting at Linate to proceed directly to the gate of their second flight or at least allow access to dedicated (and therefore more expeditious) security screening, Would therefore be of great impetus for the 'hub' operations of the Milan city airport and in particular for Linate's "increasingly important" role in ITA's future plans that CEO Joerg Eberhart has called for unveiling a few days ago The company's new lounge at the Milan airport.
