D’Annunzio Airport Montichiari Aims for 300,000 Passengers by 2001

The year 2000 marked the first full year of autonomous flight operations managed by the organization overseeing *D’Annunzio* Airport in Montichiari. A total of 165,000 passengers, arriving or departing, traveled through the Brescia airport, of which over 70% used the low-cost Ryanair flights to London.

In 2000, daily flights to Rome (with Air Dolomiti, now replaced by Alpi Eagles) accounted for over 40,000 passengers, roughly 25% of the total. The remaining passengers traveled via charter flights to Sardinia, Belarus, Romania, and some pilgrimages.

Territorial Situation and Airport Infrastructure

In a province that exports goods worth the entire economic activity of a country like Greece, where Brescia ranks as the fourth largest industrial city in Italy, the airport—considered by the *Istituto Ricerche della Regione Lombardia* among the best in Europe for development potential—is still below facilities in cities like Rimini, Treviso, Ancona, and Brindisi.

More than one hundred people work at D’Annunzio (employees, officials, fire brigade, air traffic controllers, and office staff). Catullo spa comprises 17 partners (all public entities), with a 10% Brescia stake (Chamber of Commerce and Province of Brescia). Through the voice of their president Ferdinando Sanson, they assure “a strong commitment to achieving the projected 300,000 passengers annually by the end of 2001.”

Connections and Future Development

In addition to Ryanair passenger services to London, Alpi Eagles flights to Rome, Naples, and Olbia, and Bottega dei Viaggi flights to Tunisia, the new Brescia-based airline Air Italy will ensure connections by the end of the year with Romania, Sicily, and charter flights to South America and other international tourist destinations.

Ten billion euros have been allocated by Catullo to begin developing facilities for a major cargo center, which “will be the main activity at D’Annunzio.” According to Ferdinando Sanson.