Brindisi airport

Brindisi-Casale Airport "Aeroporto del Salento"
Characteristics
ICAO code	LIBR
IATA code	BDS
Coordinates	40 ° 39 '27 " N , 17 ° 56' 49" E Coordinates: 40 ° 39 '27 " N , 17 ° 56' 49" E
Height above MSL	14 m (46 ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	3 km north of Brindisi
Street
Local transport	bus
Basic data
opening	1923
operator	SEAP - Società Esercizio Aeroporti Puglia - SpA; from 2006 Aeroporti di Puglia SpA
Terminals	1
Passengers	2,697,749 (2019)
Air freight	11 t (2019)
Flight ; movements	21,913 (2019)
Runways
05/23	1796 m × 45 m asphalt
13/31	3048 m × 45 m asphalt

The Brindisi-Casale Airport ( Italian Aeroporto di Brindisi Casale - Aeroporto del Salento ; IATA code : BDS , ICAO code : LIBR ) is an international airport three kilometers north of Brindisi , Italy .

Together with Bari Airport, it handles most of the commercial air traffic in Puglia . The main connections are those to Rome-Fiumicino and Milan .

history

The port of Brindisi served as a base for military seaplanes from 1916 . In addition to the military facilities, handling facilities for civilian flying boats were built at the port between 1923 and 1925 , which were the focus of commercial air traffic in Italy in the 1920s. At the time, conventional land planes used the San Vito dei Normanni airfield, which is just under ten kilometers west of Brindisi . From 1928 Brindisi was an important stop for commercial flights to Albania , Greece , Turkey and the Orient . Between 1931 and 1937, the facilities at the port entrance of Brindisi were expanded by setting up an airfield for land planes immediately to the north, with which both types of aircraft could be handled at a contiguous facility. During the Second World War, the focus was on military use, but commercial flights continued until 1943. From November 1941 to September 1943 an air base command of the Wehrmacht Air Force was located here. Due to its location, it was used for transport flights across the Mediterranean. In addition, there were units with Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft, such as the III./KG zbV 1 , the KGr. zbV 800 , the KGr. zbV 400 , the KGr. zbV 600 and the KGr. zbV 102 alternately stationed.

In 1947, part of the western part of the airport site was given over to civil aviation. A passenger terminal with apron and other facilities was built there. The Italian Air Force nevertheless remained the owner of the airport. In the south and east of the site, she stationed combat aircraft until 1994 and rescue helicopters until 2012 . Since 1994 the military part has been mainly used by the United Nations . There is a large logistics center of the United Nations World Food Program ( United Nations Logistics Base - UNLB and United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot - UNHRD ), which is why the airport is also a hub for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service . The military part is still connected by a taxiway with the former handling facilities for flying boats at the port, which means that the logistics center can also handle sea transports.

In 2005, the Italian Air Force handed Brindisi Airport to the civil aviation authority ENAC , but reserved the right to use it for military purposes. The Apulian airport company SEAP took over the operation of the civil part.

Traffic figures

Source: Assaeroporti

Brindisi Airport - traffic figures 2000–2019
year	Passenger volume	Air freight ( tons ) (with airmail )	Flight movements
2019	2,697,749	11	21,913
2018	2,478,856	56	21,049
2017	2,321,147	89	18,872
2016	2,329,509	15th	18,955
2015	2,258,292	28	18,042
2014	2,163,742	12	17,257
2013	1,992,722	15th	16,113
2012	2.101.045	67	17,692
2011	2,058,057	75	17,340
2010	1,606,322	154	14,528
2009	1,091,270	359	11,465
2008	984,300	131	12,581
2007	929.854	256	11,169
2006	815,541	523	10,696
2005	794.378	736	10,688
2004	765.753	804	9,603
2003	716,544	1.913	9,244
2002	629.218	356	8,076
2001	611.996	255	8,350
2000	614.140	314	10,550

Incidents

On January 27, 1959, an Avro Tudor IV "Super Trader" of Air Charter Limited ( aircraft registration G-AGRG ) left the runway in a strong crosswind during take-off; then the left main landing gear tore off. The cargo plane en route to Australia exploded and burned out, killing two of the six crew members.

On July 9, 1962, a Douglas DC-4 of the Lebanese Trans Mediterranean Airways ( OD-AEC ) hit the sea 2200 m behind the end of the runway. With the cargo plane on the way to Beirut Airport, the altitude could no longer be maintained after two engines failed. In addition, the six-person crew who were killed in the accident were overtired.