THE Salerno Costa d'Amalfi Airport will open in stages. The Spanish low-cost airline Volotea will begin offering limited service from Nantes, France, on July 11 and from Cagliari, Sardinia, on July 13. The carrier will add flights from Catania in Sicily and Verona on September 2. According to the airline's website, one-way fares start at $34, depending on the destination. EasyJet, the British low-cost airline, will also launch new routes to Salerno in July: from Milan Malpensa on July 11; Berlin, Geneva and Basel, Switzerland, July 12; and London Gatwick on July 13. The inaugural flight from Milan starts at $52 one way.
“I’m a frequent EasyJet flyer,” said Nigel Carley, a Cilento coast resident who operates the plane. Pinelli Groupa luxury real estate development company, “and they’re already telling me it’s coming.”
THE Campani Airport Service Management (GESAC), which manages Naples and Salerno airports, said it would announce more airlines soon. Carley expects Ryanair will add the Amalfi Coast to its roadmap. The ultra-low-cost carrier did not respond to a request for comment.
According to GESAC, Salerno Airport will welcome around 200,000 passengers during the first six months of opening, a period which coincides with the region's peak summer season. The company said the number of travelers could reach 4 or 5 million per year, depending on demand. Naples International Airport, located approximately 65 km north of the town of Amalfi, welcomed 12.4 million passengers in 2023, according to airport officials. Salerno Airport is slightly closer to Amalfi, 45 km away; its eponymous town is just 21 km away.
“The project will divide air traffic between Naples and Salerno,” Ferrara said, adding that flights will likely be short- or medium-haul rather than transatlantic.
Salerno Airport has a long and intriguing history. It was founded by the country's air force in 1926 and was active during World War II. It served as a training center for the Carabinieri police, firefighters and flight students. It was also a landing strip for private planes and, from 2008, also for commercial flights. The airport ceased commercial aviation operations in 2016.
GESAC expects the expanded airport to be ready by 2026 or 2027. On its to-do list: extend the runway to 7,218 feet and build a 172,223-square-foot passenger terminal whose opening is expected in 2026. The Dutch design company Deernswho helped plan Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and the UAE's Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City airports, will oversee the terminal project.
Initially, the airport will offer passengers basic services and amenities, such as a snack area offering Campanian specialties, a newsstand, a tobacconist and a car rental office. The new terminal will offer a greater variety of shops and restaurants in the “artisanal and gastronomic tradition of the Amalfi Coast and the Campania region,” said a GESAC spokeswoman.
Salerno Airport will streamline travel to the Amalfi Coast. Travelers usually go to Naples and rent or rent a car. The journey can take between an hour and 90 minutes, depending on traffic and the destination. Visitors can also take a bus, train or ferry. For some cities, a combination of travel modes is required.
“It’s going to take a lot of traffic out of Naples,” Carley said, “so it’s going to have a positive effect on the environment, not a negative one.”
Italy is struggling with overtourism, leading some cities and regions to implement fees and restrictions to curb crowds. From April, Venice will require daily visitors to pay an entrance fee of approximately $5.50 during peak periods and days. In 2019, the Amalfi Coast authorities introduced a alternating license plate system for non-residents on the 35 km stretch of road between Positano and Vietri sul Mare. During peak periods, rental cars with odd plates cannot operate on odd dates. The same rule applies for even numbers.
To ease stress on scenic routes, authorities in the Campania region will extend the Salerno city metro to the airport. Carley said a new toll road linking the E45 motorway to the southern region would also help ease traffic congestion by siphoning traffic away from residential lanes. The Mediterranean coast UNESCO World Heritage Status and the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park also act as repels to overdevelopment.
“Amalfi desperately needs this airport to improve tourism,” Carley said, “but we are putting sustainability first.”
