Milan Linate Airport

Milan Linate Airport is a city airport located in Milan, the second-largest city and largest urban area of Italy. It served 10.6 million passengers and recorded 118,060 aircraft movements in 2024, making it one of the busiest airports in Italy. It is the third-busiest airport in the Milan metropolitan area in terms of passenger numbers, after Malpensa and Bergamo, and the second busiest in terms of aircraft movements.

Together with Milan Malpensa Airport and Milan Bergamo Airport, they form the Milan airport system with 56.9 million passengers in 2024, the largest airport system in Italy by number of passengers.

History

Early years

The airport was built next to Idroscalo of Milan in the 1930s when Taliedo Airport, located from the southern border of Milan and one of the world's first aerodromes and airports, became too small for commercial traffic. Linate was completely rebuilt in the 1950s and again in the 1980s.

Its name comes from the small village where it is located in the town of Peschiera Borromeo. Its official name is Airport Enrico Forlanini, after the Italian inventor and aeronautical pioneer born in Milan. Linate airport buildings are located in the Segrate Municipality, and the field is located for a large part in the Peschiera Borromeo Municipality.

Development since 2000

Since 2001, because of Linate's close proximity to the centre of Milan – only east of the city centre, compared with Malpensa, which is 41 km (25 mi) northwest of the city centre – its capacity has been reduced by law from 32 slots per hour (technical capacity) down to 22 slots per hour (politically decided capacity) and only domestic or international flights within the EU or to the United Kingdom have been allowed. That year, 2001, also saw a major accident at Linate with many illegal and non-ICAO-regulation practices and layouts part of its then operation.

From 27 July to 27 October 2019, Linate was closed for runway resurfacing and terminal upgrades. The latter project is expected to continue after the airport's reopening, concluding some time in 2021. During this closure, most flights were rerouted to Malpensa, displacing approximately 2.5 million passengers.

In July 2023, Linate Airport was named Europe's Best Airport in the 5–10 Million Passenger category by the Airport Council International. Also as of 2023, the airport had received level 4+ of the Airport Carbon Accreditation.

Facilities

Terminal

Linate Airport features one three-story passenger terminal building. The ground level contains the check-in and separate baggage reclaim facilities as well as service counters and a secondary departure gate area for bus-boarding. The first floor features the main departure area with several shops, restaurants and service facilities. The second floor is used for office space.

Apron and runway

The terminal building features five aircraft stands, all of which are equipped with jet-bridges. Several more parking positions are available on the apron which are reached from several bus-boarding gates. AIRAC A10/23 (valid from 30 November 2023) has determined the new QFU of the runway as 17/35 (was earlier 18/36) due to magnetic variation, and downgraded the "old" 17/35 to a taxiway only.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate scheduled services to and from Linate Airport:

Statistics

Ground transport

Metro

The Milan Metro Line 4 connects the airport to the city centre with a travel time of about 15 minutes.

Bus and coach

The airport can be reached by several coach and bus services from Milan and other destinations.

From Milan Central Station, Linate is served by several shuttle/coach services, including Linate Shuttle (Milano Centrale–Dateo–Linate), Airport Bus Express (Milano Centrale–Lambrate–Linate) and Flibco (Linate–Milano Centrale/Piazza Luigi di Savoia); journey times are around 25 minutes from Centrale (and around 10 minutes from Lambrate for Airport Bus Express).

Local and suburban connections include ATM line 973 (San Felice–Milan via Linate; from 30 November it adds stops at Viale Corsica, Corso 22 Marzo and Piazza 5 Giornate), ATM line 901 (Linate–Peschiera Borromeo–San Donato M3, weekdays), ATM line 903 (weekend replacement for 901), and the suburban lines Z409 (Linate–San Felice–Rodano) and K511 (Vailate–Rivolta–Liscate–Pioltello–Milan 5 Giornate), as well as line 923 (Linate–Novegro–San Felice–Ospedale San Raffaele).

Car

The airport is located on Viale Enrico Forlanini next to its intersection with Autostrada A51 (exit 6 Aeroporto Linate). A51 is part of the city's highway ring, so the airport can be reached from any direction.

Incidents and accidents

• On 6 December 1948, an Avio Linee Italiane (ALI) Douglas DC-3 crashed on takeoff in fog. All seven occupants died.
• On 8 October 2001, during severe fog Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 686, bound for Copenhagen Airport, collided with a business jet which had inadvertently taxied onto the runway in use. This collision later resulted in criminal and legal proceedings against 11 staff, including an air traffic controller, flight safety officials and management officials from the airport. All 114 people on both aircraft were killed, as well as four people on the ground. The Linate Airport disaster remains the deadliest air disaster in Italian history.
• On 1 June 2003, a Learjet 45 operated by Eurojet Italia crashed shortly after takeoff because of birdstrikes affecting both engines and loss of control attempting an emergency landing back at Linate. Both pilots were killed.
• On 15 June 2005, a light aircraft safely landed on taxiway 'T' after its pilot had mistaken it for runway 36R. Following that incident, a safety recommendation was issued. It suggested the use of different numbers to help differentiate between runways. This change was enacted at the beginning of July 2007, when 18R/36L became 17/35 and 18L/36R became 18/36.
• On 3 October 2021, a privately owned Pilatus PC-12 that had just taken off from Linate Airport crashed into an empty building, killing all eight passengers and crew on board. The plane was heading for Olbia on the island of Sardinia, but it came down soon after takeoff on the outskirts of the city near the metro station at San Donato Milanese, near Milan. The victims included businessman Dan Petrescu, one of the wealthiest people in Romania at the time; his wife, his son, and five others, including a one-year-old baby. Several empty parked cars caught fire after the crash near the metro station, emergency workers said. Firefighters worked to extinguish the flames rising from the building, which was reportedly under reforms.

Notes

References

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