- Early history
- Airport development after the 1940s
- "Renaissance" Malpensa
- New players
- Airport transportation
- Malpensa structure
One of the largest airports in Italy in terms of passenger traffic is located near Milan. This Italian city is served by three airports: Linate, Orio al Serio and the main airport in Lombardy, which receives most of the international flights, Malpensa Airport. The latter is located near the village of Ferno in the province of Varese, 49 km from Milan. Several airlines are currently based here: Blue Panorama, Cargolux Italia, FedEx Express, easyJet, Ryanair, Meridiana and Neos. Until 2007, the airport was also the hub of Alitalia, but the company moved its base to Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport. From Milan, Alitalia's planes now fly to only three destinations: New York, Tokyo and Sao Paulo.
Malpensa Airport has already served about 20 million passengers, including 15 million residents of Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as residents of the Swiss region of Ticino. 550 tons of cargo was also transported through it, which makes it one of the most important air cargo hubs in the country.
Early history
The modern Malpensa airport is over a hundred years old. The first airport appeared at this place in 1909. Brothers Giovanni Agusta and Gianni Caproni set up an airfield near their old farm, Cascina Malpensa, where they tested their prototype aircraft. At first, it was a simple field that was used to grow crops. Subsequently, a primitive runway was equipped here, next to which hangars for the assembly of biplanes appeared. The rural airfield soon became the largest aircraft manufacturing center in Italy.
During the 1920s and 1930s, two squadrons of the Italian Air Force were based at the airfield. In September 1943, when northern Italy fell under the rule of Nazi Germany, the airport near Milan was taken over by the Luftwaffe. The Germans immediately began to settle down and the first thing they did was to build a concrete runway.
After the cessation of hostilities, the industrialists and politicians of Milan and the province of Varese, led by the banker Benigno Ayroldi, who headed the bank "Banca Alto Milanese", rebuilt the airfield with their own funds. They planned to use it in the post-war reconstruction of Italy. The main runway, badly damaged by the retreating German forces, was rebuilt and increased to 1,800 meters. To protect the transported goods and passengers from the vagaries of the weather, a small wooden terminal was erected at the airport.
Airport development after the 1940s
Malpensa Airport officially became a civilian airport on November 21, 1948, although the Belgian national carrier Sabena had started flights from here to Brussels a year earlier. In 1950, Malpensa began to receive and send intercontinental flights. The first company to fly from Milan to New York was Trans World Airlines.
In 1952 the municipality of Milan took control of the airport operator Società Aeroporto di Busto Arsizio, which later changed its name to SEA. The airport began to develop as an international and intercontinental hub, while Milan's second airport, Linate, was focused on domestic flights.
Between 1958 and 1962, a new terminal was built in Malpensa and the two parallel runways were extended to 3915 meters, a record in Europe at the time.
In the early 1960s, several leading airlines such as British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa and Alitalia chose Linate Airport, which is just 11 km east of Milan city center, as their hub. Such a convenient location of the airport allows passengers to get from it to Milan much faster. Malpensa immediately lost many profitable European destinations. She served only a few intercontinental, charter and cargo flights. If in 1960 the passenger traffic at Malpensa airport was 525 thousand people, then by 1965 it decreased to 331 thousand. For another 20 years after that, Malpensa Airport was in the shadow of its rival, Linate Airport.
"Renaissance" Malpensa
By the mid-1980s, Linate Airport was receiving 7 million passengers a year. It had only one short runway and a small parking lot where there was always not enough space for everyone. It became clear that the airport was operating at the limit of its capacity, and there was no talk of any further development. An alternative solution was proposed: return all international flights to Malpensa airport.
At the end of 1985, the Italian parliament passed a law on the reorganization of the Malpensa airport systems. This airport has become an aviation hub serving all of Northern Italy. Linate has again become a provincial airport, receiving flights from cities in Italy. By 2000, it was planned to build a new terminal and develop a system for fast and efficient communication with the city center of Milan.
The European Union recognized this airport expansion project as very promising and provided Italy with 200 million euros for its implementation. Construction of the terminal began in 1990. Malpensa airport received the first passengers after renovation, which ended after 8 years.
In 1998, Alitalia returned to Malpensa, which had been based in Rome for 50 years. In the same year, the airport has already served 5, 92 million passengers. Passenger traffic increased by more than 2 million people compared to the previous year.
New players
In 2008, the airport company drew up a plan for its further development. Work on the construction of a new pier for Terminal 1 and the construction of a third runway was estimated at 1.4 billion euros. However, Alitalia suddenly decided to relocate again to Rome due to the "high operating costs" at Malpensa airport. The number of passengers with the departure of "Alitalia" immediately decreased, but the management of the airport carried out a brilliant advertising campaign, which made it possible to open about three dozen new routes here.
In 2008, German airline Lufthansa announced plans to build its first base outside Germany. Malpensa airport was chosen as such a hub. In October of the same year, the Italian division of Lufthansa, called Lufthansa Italia, opened here. The company operated at Milan airport for two years, and then closed its office.
Low-cost British carrier EasyJet has turned Malpensa into its second base (EasyJet's main hub is London Gatwick Airport). The airline currently operates flights from Milan to 67 cities in Italy and Europe. EasyJet's competitor, Ryanair, confirmed in 2015 its plans to open an operations center in Malpensa.
Airport transportation
You can get to Malpensa Airport in different ways:
- by express train Malpensa. Milan Airport is connected by train to Gare du Nord, which is located in Piazza Cadorna. The train en route makes two more stops at the Saronno Central and Milano Bovisa stations. Trains leave Terminal 1 every 30 minutes. The trip lasts 45 minutes;
- by bus. The Malpensa Combi and Malpensa Bus Express buses leave from Central Station, where there is a metro station, to Milan's main airport 3 times per hour. Passengers spend about an hour on the way. A free shuttle bus runs between the first and second terminals. He runs 24 hours a day with a break of 20 minutes. From Malpensa airport, you can take a bus to the other Milan Linate airport, as well as to many cities in Northern Italy and even to Switzerland;
- by taxi. Taxi ranks are located at the exits of the two terminals. The fare to the city will be about 80-90 euros;
- on a rented car. You can rent a car directly at the airport at the office of one of the car rental companies. The A8 motorway leads to Milan, which connects Italy with Switzerland. On the A4 motorway, guests from Italy and Milan travel to Turin.
Malpensa structure
Malpensa Airport has two passenger terminals. They are connected by a free bus service. The large and representative Terminal 1 was opened in 1998. It is divided into three sections and serves the majority of passengers on scheduled and charter flights. Pier 1A is intended for flights to the Schengen area. It also receives planes from other cities in Italy. Piers 1B and 1C are reserved for intercontinental directions and routes to states that are not part of the Schengen zone. Pier 1C was opened not so long ago - in January 2013.
Terminal 2 is an old terminal currently used only by EasyJet. All charter flights from this terminal were transferred to Terminal 1 immediately after its opening.
Until December 2016, Terminal 2 could only be reached by ATM (Transport for Milan) regular buses or minibuses operated by Terravision, Autostradale and Malpensa Shuttle. A new train station is currently operating 200 meters north of the arrival hall. It can be reached through a covered corridor.
The third terminal at Malpensa Airport is called "CargoCity". It only serves cargo flights. Today Malpensa is recognized as the largest cargo airport in Italy. About 50% of all goods imported and exported from Italy pass through it. In 2015, the construction of a large warehouse for storage of goods began here.
At the moment, the airport has only two runways.
