Forlì Airport

Forlì International Airport committed itself to become the first carbon-negative airport in the world. This is done by the close examination of new passenger and cargo routes, optimizing for performance an optimum price and load factor, glide path of the planes, and finally arriving at a cost/carbon profile. The cost/carbon profile is compared with competitive routes and solutions for other airports. The airport then works with an independent certification organization to generate Emissions Reduction Certificates[4] for the new route, should the route be accepted by the airport. Many routes do not conform with this model and are rejected. The system then utilizes corrective pricing measures to provide an optimum value for the customer (revenue management) that are utilized to optimize the financial model of the route to the benefit of the air carrier and the passenger. The new system is based upon work accomplished by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) utilized as far back as the SABRE system developed for American Airlines in 1957.

Forlì International Airport accommodates General Aviation from international sources, charter traffic from Scandinavian sources, and offers point to point transit and flights to hub airports.

Forlì International Airport was originally Luigi Ridolfi Airport, and dedicated by Benito Mussolini prior to WWII. Mussolini was born in the nearby town of Predappio.

On 29 March 2013, the airport was closed due to the lack of Jet-A fuel per Notam B1624/13. The management company, SEAF S.p.A.,[5] was declared bankrupt. A tender was issued by ENAC, the aviation administration, to operate the airport. The submissions were reviewed by local, regional, and pan-EU government representatives, as well as Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Lupi. Support was put forth unanimously[6] from government for a submission by Aviacom S.r.L., Robert L Halcombe Administrator, Lotras S.p.A., and Siem S.r.L.[7] forming Air Romagna S.p.A.

The thirty-year concession was awarded on September 28, 2014 to Air Romagna S.p.A. At this time, Robert L Halcombe was appointed Administrator (he is Administrator of Aviacom S.r.L. and CEO of The Sovereign Group, LLC of Reston, Virginia) Unico, the sole administrator of the new company and the airport. An Accountable Manager was appointed, Sandro Gasparrini, who was the former head of ENAV, the air navigation ministry of Italy. Simone Vezzelli was appointed Deputy Accountable Manager. The concession was signed by Robert Halcombe and Alessio Quaranta, General Manager of the Italian civil aviation agency on June 6, 2015.[8] Gasparini left his post in 2016 and was superseded by Halcombe. The Deputy position fell to Allesandro Berardi.

Aviacom S.r.L. is the majority owner of Air Romagna S.p.A., at 92% of the stock. The sole administrator is Dott. Robert L. Halcombe. Aviacom is registered as an "innovative" company in the register of companies of Italy.

Management proposed a radical shift in industry focus, in support of mutual aid and collaboration. This has attracted the support of several governments, workers organizations, legal and educational institutions.

While most Italian airports focus on low cost carrier (LCC) passenger traffic which bankrupts other airports, Forlì's new focus is on smarter implementations of routes that optimize management of 1) international cargo and passenger movement, 2) maintenance of modern airliners, particularly more fuel efficient airliners, and c) advanced fuel management which delivers lower cost and greater reliability.

Under the new administration, in 2016 the primary focus was to restructure general aviation operations and in 2017 to bring charter traffic and scheduled airlines. The target commercial passenger area of influence is Northern Europe and Scandinavia, major cities west in the European Union, and east to the Russian Federation. Then, through alliances, the intent is to connect with North American markets. From March 2017, all new scheduled airline traffic will be required to be evaluated for carbon footprint and optimization. According to the cost/carbon models, some traffic will be referred to other airports.

Forlì Airport was formerly used by Wizz Air, but the airline canceled all flights to Forlì. Wind Jet moved to the nearby Rimini Airport on 27 March 2011, and thereafter quit Rimini Airport, filing for administration shortly after. Ryanair used to fly from Forlì to a number of European cities such as London-Stansted and Frankfurt-Hahn until it moved to the nearby Bologna Airport. Questions surfaced upon the vote of Brexit as to whether the business model (supporting grants from the EU) would continue.[9] This cited study and following airport round table discussions indicate that the current Italian airport business model unstable. It is based upon Low Cost Airlines (or Low Cost Carriers) receiving rebates of landing fees. Although some airlines "rebate" the fees to passengers, they charge a "recovery fee" equal to the rebate. The UK, for example, applies unevenly the practice of assessed fees and rebates.[10] Scandinavian airports changed the structure away from rebates in 2015.[11] This practice essentially put local airlines out of business.
After few years without any commercial flight, Air Dolomiti is planning to start a scheduled service to Munich Airport in January 2021, Germany.

Forlì Airport is located only 4 km from the city centre and is very close to the SS9 "Via Emilia" national route.

Forlì Railway station is situated at about 5 km from the airport and travellers can connect via bus route number 7 of START Romagna (Fiera-Stazione FS-Airport-Ronco), which has a 15-30 minutes frequency on weekdays and Saturdays and a 120 minutes frequency on Sundays and public holidays. It takes 14 minutes to complete the trip.