Abruzzo Airport Aeroporto internazionale d'Abruzzo "Pasquale Liberi" | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=logo} | |||||||||||
.jpg) | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | SAGA S.p.A. | ||||||||||
| Serves | Pescara | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 48 ft / 15 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 42°26′14″N014°11′14″E / 42.43722°N 14.18722°E /42.43722; 14.18722 | ||||||||||
| Website | abruzzoairport.com | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  PSR  PSR | |||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Abruzzo Airport (IATA:PSR,ICAO:LIBP)[3] is aninternational airport servingPescara, Italy. It is located approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the centre of Pescara, about 180 km (110 mi) from Rome, a 2-hour drive by car on a motorway across theApennine Mountains. The airport is located on the state road 5Via Tiburtina Valeria and is connected to important roads (Autostrada A25,Autostrada A14, SS714 Tangenziale di Pescara) and railway connections (Rome–Sulmona–Pescara railway,Adriatic railway).
Being the only international airport in theAbruzzo region, it plays a fundamental role for the transportation and aerial connection of the area and for that of neighbouring regions; catering also for people fromMolise,Marche and theGargano area. The airport has seen a steady increase in the number of transit passengers over the years, mainly due to a growth in low-cost airlines and flights. The terminal built in 1996 has been extended in 2011 and recently restructured in 2018.
The history of the airport starts in 1917 when, after the bombing ofPescara by bombers of thek.u.k. Luftfahrtruppen, the aerial component of theAustro-Hungarian Army, along theVia Tiburtina Valeria road a military airfield is built by theRegio Esercito, which arrived on 26 October 1917 with twoFarman 14. On 31 July 1918 the 302° Squadron is formed, equipped with biplanesAnsaldo SVA, among the best fighter-bombers of the time. From 1921, the airport has been named after Pasquale Liberi, an aviator friend of the famous poetGabriele d'Annunzio. In 1927 the airport was extended to 50 hectares and modernized.
In the 1930s, with the start of commercial aviation, the airlineSocietà Aerea Mediterranea (SAM) started in 1933 a triweekly service from Pescara toRome Urbe Airport, with an intermediate stop at the airfield of Piana di Bagno nearL'Aquila.[4]
AfterWWII, the first airline to restart commercial service was Società anonima di navigazione aerea transadriatica (Transadriatica), which inaugurated the service Pescara-Roma-Urbe on 5 May 1947 using aDouglas DC-3.[5] At the same time, Transadriatica started another interesting route:Venezia-Ancona-Pescara-Brindisi-Catania. Furthermore, the airlineAvio Linee Italiane decided to start a route connecting North to South Italy for the first time:Milan-Pescara-Foggia-Bari-Brindisi.[6]
Itavia, constituted in 1958 to operate between secondary airports not served byAlitalia, opened its first route Pescara-Roma-Urbe on 15 July 1959 with a 8-seatsde Havilland Dove. With the development of Itavia also the number of routes increased between the end of 1960s and beginning of 1970s, includingRoma,Milano,Ancona,Crotone,Forlì,Lecce,Bergamo,Bologna,Treviso-Venezia,Catania andPalermo.
In 1973, the English historianBruce Barrymore Halpenny, then living in Abruzzo, organised aBritish CaledonianBAC 111 to take off fromGenoa Airport toPescara to test the feasibility of the approach and landing at Pescara of a large commercial aircraft.[7] With the British Caledonian chief pilot being an ex-RAF pilot and Halpenny (also Ex-RAF) on board this maneuver was successfully accomplished,[7] opening up the airport and the region for tourism.[7] Halpenny then arranged for a British Caledonian BAC 111 to take off fromGatwick Airport, land in Pescara and return to Gatwick, demonstrating the feasibility of[7]commercial flights to the airport.[7]
As of 1 February 1979,Itavia was forced to suspend its flights toPescara due to the revision of the minimum landing requirements on some Italian airports implemented by ANPAC, the National Association of Civil Aviation Pilots. The raise of the requirements in question (distance to the runway and altitude at which the pilot must decide whether to continue the landing) were dependent on proper radio support (such asILS, Instrument Landing System) and a clear view to allow the landing of aircraft in conditions of poor visibility. Such instruments were not installed at the time at the airport. Itavia itself was never going to be back at the airport, as it ceased operations in June 1980, after theUstica disaster.
After the dark period during which the airport did not have any connection, the situation improved with the reopening of a route toMilano throughAncona, operated byAermediterranea, a company belonging toIstituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI) and controlled by Alitalia, which was operated between 1981 and 1983. From 1984, the flight toMilan Linate Airport was managed by another company of the Alitalia group:Aero Trasporti Italiani (ATI), based inNaples. In 1988, it was the turn of Alitalia itself to operate the much-sought direct connection to Milan, using the modernMcDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliners until 1994.[8]
Air One was founded as Aliadriatica in 1983 as a flight school and air taxi company for services in Abruzzo. From 1994, it was this company who took operation of the route toMilan. In 1996, the current terminal opened and the old building was converted for technical and logistical support. The project enabled the airport to offer more comfort and efficiency of service.
In 2010, Canadian airlineAir Transat began flying a seasonal nonstop flight toToronto operated with anAirbus A310.[9] This service was discontinued in 2012[10]
The development of the airport, which has seen an increment of passengers from 114,000 in 2000 to over 600,000 in 2015, is mainly due to the low-cost phenomenon that has affected all of Europe and most small Italian airports, benefiting Pescara. Today the airport has a catchment area of over 600,000 passengers annually and connects the city ofPescara and the entire region with many Italian and European destinations, in particular with the services offered by the airlinesRyanair andVolotea.[11]
 | This articleis inlist format but may read better asprose. You can help byconverting this article, if appropriate.Editing help is available.(September 2019) |
.jpg)
A series of development works have been carried out between 2008 and 2018 at the airport. Those completed at July 2019 include:[12][13]
The master plan of development and modernization of the airport includes further upgrading works of both the airside and landside areas, for an overall cost of 33 Euro million. The works include:[20]
Currently the building of the old passenger terminal has been converted to a warehouse; it was employed by the airline cargoTNT Airlines up to December 2008 and byMaersk Air until October 2010.
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Pescara Abruzzo Airport:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Luxair | Luxembourg[21] |
| Neos | Seasonal:Sharm El Sheikh (begins 11 April 2025)[citation needed] |
| Ryanair | Bergamo (ends 29 March 2025),[22]Bucharest–Otopeni,Catania,[23]Charleroi,[24]Hahn,London–Stansted,Milan–Malpensa (begins 30 March 2025)[25] Seasonal:Alghero,Cagliari (begins 2 June 2025),[26]Girona,[27]Kaunas (begins 4 June 2025),[26]Kraków,Malta,Memmingen,Prague,Trapani,Turin,[28]Valencia (begins 3 June 2025),[26]Weeze,Wroclaw (begins 1 June 2025)[26] |
| Wizz Air | Tirana |
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org. |
| Year | Passengers | % | Movements | % | Cargo (tons) | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 71,908 | 4,052 | 152 | |||
| 1997 | 72,962 | 2,86 | 4,618 | 13,9 | 195 | 28,3 |
| 1998 | 104 000 | 42,54 | 6,390 | 38,4 | 56 | -71,3 |
| 1999 | 105 500 | 1,44 | 6,310 | 1,25 | 476 | 750 |
| 2000 | 114,024 | 8,08 | 9,940 | 57,5 | 2.851 | 499 |
| 2001 | 153,227 | 34,4 | 6,775 | -31,8 | 3.115 | 9,3 |
| 2002 | 295,875 | 93,1 | 11,559 | 70,6 | 1.913 | -38,6 |
| 2003 | 301,773 | 2,0 | 10,932 | -5,4 | 1.795 | -6,2 |
| 2004 | 334,998 | 10,9 | 10,075 | -7,8 | 2.151 | 19,8 |
| 2005 | 350,447 | 4,7 | 10,339 | 2,6 | 2.390 | 11,1 |
| 2006 | 340,699 | -2,8 | 12,139 | 17,4 | 2.849 | 19,2 |
| 2007 | 371,247 | 9,0 | 12,085 | -0,4 | 3.291 | 15,5 |
| 2008 | 402.845 | 8,5 | 11.128 | -7,9 | 3.339 | 1,5 |
| 2009 | 409.045 | 1,5 | 9.773 | -12,2 | 2.431 | -27,2 |
| 2010 | 461.086 | 12,7 | 7.971 | -18,4 | 2.116 | -13,0 |
| 2011 | 550.062 | 19,3 | 7.827 | -1,8 | 1.472 | -43,7 |
| 2012 | 563.187 | 2,4 | 8.284 | 5,8 | 1.221 | 1,8 |
| 2013 | 548.217 | -2,7 | 8.017 | -3,2 | 721,1 | -40,9 |
| 2014 | 556.679 | 1,5 | 6.738 | -15,95 | 44 | -93,9 |
| 2015 | 613.427 | 10,2 | 10.469 | 55,4 | 42 | -4,2 |
| 2016 | 572.217 | -6,6 | 8.850 | -14,3 | 69,5 | 65,5 |
| 2017 | 667.831 | +16,7 | 15.331 | +73,2 | 52 | -25,2 |
| 2018 | 666.691 | -0,2 | 13.456 | -12,2 | 72 | 38,5 |
| 2019 | 703.386 | 5,5 | 12.880 | -4,3 | 276 | 283,3 |
| 2020 | 173.156 | -75,4 | 10.397 | -19,3 | 44 | -84,1 |
| 2021 | 381 241 | 120,2 | 11.827 | 13,8 | 21 | -52,3 |
| 2022 | 715,690 | |||||
| 2023 | 872,701 |
The airport is connected to the center of Pescara with the TUA (regional public transportation company) bus lines 8 and 38, with which it is possible to reach Piazza della Repubblica, the Bus Terminal serving domestic and international destinations. The bus lines 8 and 38 pass also near the main railway station in the city,Pescara railway station. The airport is connected to the center of Pescara and Chieti with the TUA Chieti-Pescara line, with which it is possible to reach the university campus "G. D'Annunzio" in Chieti Scalo. The TUA stop is opposite to the pedestrian exit of the airport park on Via Tiburtina Valeria.[citation needed]
Media related toAbruzzo Airport at Wikimedia Commons
| Provinces andgeography |  | |
|---|---|---|
| History | ||
| Politics and government | ||
| Culture and heritage | ||
| Economy | ||
| Science | ||
| Education | ||
| Transport | ||
Authority control databases: Geographic |
|---|
