Reggio Calabria Airport

Reggio di Calabria "Tito Minniti" Airport (IATA: REG, ICAO: LICR), also known as Aeroporto dello Stretto (Airport of the Strait) is an airport located near Reggio, in southern Calabria, Italy. It serves mainly the Province of Reggio and the Province of Messina, and partially the Province of Vibo Valentia; more than 1,200,000 people. Daily flights depart and arrive for and from several Italian cities, and are seasonally augmented by flights to various other countries.

Reggio di Calabria Airport

Aeroporto di Reggio di Calabria
Summary
Airport typePublic & Military
OperatorSacal S.p.A.
ServesReggio di Calabria, Messina
LocationReggio di Calabria
Built1939
OccupantsV Reparto di Volo della Polizia di Stato
Elevation AMSL29.26 m / 95.99 ft
Coordinates38°04′19″N 15°39′13″E
Websitereggiocalabriaairport.it
Map
REG/LICR
REG/LICR
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 2,000 6,549 Asphalt
11/29 1,700 5,574 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers365391
Passenger change 18-19 2.0%
Aircraft movements5596
Movements change 18-19 -11.6%
Source: Italian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]
Statistics from Assaeroporti[2]

History

Reggio military airport was inaugurated in 1939 (the first airport in Calabria), becoming operative for commercial flights in 1947; later it was named after Italian Royal Air Force war-hero Tito Minniti, who was born in Reggio Calabria. Its IATA airport code REG is derived from Reggio, Calabria's main city, which the airport is closest to. On the outskirts of the airport the training grounds of local football club Reggina Calcio are located.

In March 2017, Alitalia announced it would terminate all 56 weekly flights to and from the airport (to Milan, Rome and Turin) stating all routes were heavily loss-making.[3] However, this decision was revoked shortly after.

In summer 2017, Sacal S.p.A. (Società aeroportuale calabrese), also managing Lamezia Terme took over the management of the airport.

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Alitalia Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino

Statistics

Number of movements, number of passengers and freight traffic :

Evolution of movements, passengers and freight[4]
YearMovementsPassengersFreight (in tons)
NumberVar.NumberVar.TrafficVar.
20006,291-1.3%538,048+4.6%330-6.5%
20016,157-2.1%481,857-10.4%553+67.6%
20025,830-5.3%463,662-3.8%690+24.8%
20035,567-4.5%441,795-4.6%241-65.1%
20043,729-33.0%272,859-38.2%189-21.6%
20057,516+101.6%398,089+45.9%194+2.6%
200611,414+51.9%607,727+59.0%197+1.5%
200710,954-4.0%583,596-4.0%335+70.1%
20089,394-14.2%536,032-8.2%180-46.3%
20098,058-14.2%509,058-5.0%124-31.1%
20109,066+12.5%548,648+7.8%191+54.0%
20118,998-0.8%561,107+2.3%131-31.4%
20128,233-8.5%571,694+1.9%114-13.0%
20137,637-7.2%562,747-1,6%101.1-11.3%
20147,383-3.3%522,849-7.1%46.02-54.5%

Ground transport

The Reggio Calabria Airport is approximately 5 kilometres south from Reggio's historic city centre. It is accessible by car or public transport. The airport is reachable in 7 minutes by regional trains from Reggio Calabria Centrale or Melito di Porto Salvo. Even the airport railway station has faced criticism by the local community, due to its 2 km distance from the terminal and the low number of passengers which use it. The number of trains calling at the station is 22 trains per day between 7 am and 9:30 pm. Otherwise, the airport is reachable by bus routes 27 and 27/ from the University and San Brunello and by the Port-Airport direct route, all of which are operated by ATAM and with nearby towns and ports by various provincial bus operators.

There was also a projected pier to allow the docking of the ferries from Messina, allowing the residents of the Sicilian city to use the Reggio Calabria Airport instead of driving 200 km south to Catania Airport. This pier was built, but the prevailing winds did not allow the ferries to dock. This issue, together with low passenger numbers have caused the pier to be abandoned and used by fishermen, becoming a symbol of waste of public money.

Notes
  1. "EAD Basic - Error Page".
  2. "Associazione Italiana Gestori Aeroportuali" (PDF).
  3. Mar 9; Dron, 2017 Alan. "Alitalia to pull out from Reggio di Calabria". atwonline.com. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  4. Data from Assaeroporti (in Italian)

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