Ghedi Military Base’s Future in Doubt Amid Civil Airport Expansion
It’s done, but not said and while officially they dodge the questions of yes or no, the military personnel stationed in Ghedi face the uncertainty of the future, which certainly does not fill them with joy.
The uncertainty concerns a probable transfer of theirs because, as has been repeatedly said for some time, the development of the civil D’Annunzio airport, the neighboring one in Montichiari, could within a short period swallow up the Ghedi military base.
Officially, silence is maintained, but as the saying goes, “off the record,” someone admits that there is talk of a transfer: the where and when remain uncertain.
And this uncertainty worries even more those who have settled here and have started families.
The possible transfer and relocations
It appears that the pilot school, which was transferred from England to Ghedi, is also being considered for relocation.
When asked, regional councilor Guido Galperti, who represents the administration at Catullo Airport and the Chamber of Commerce, gives a sly response: “It’s known that a kilometer of road doesn’t take you far, but a kilometer of runway can take you anywhere in the world.
And Montichiari has three kilometers.” In other words, on paper, there are no limits to future developments that could also imply significant changes in the area’s destinations.
Moreover, here there are no environmental restrictions, unlike in Munich, “not by chance that the Montichiari-Ghedi system, like the Bavarian one, was built by the Germans: there is a huge potential, a vocation”—Galperti resumes—“that designates it to become the airport system of the north.”
Of course, everything depends on a clear government intention, which has not yet been officially announced: “The demilitarization of Ghedi can only happen based on a concrete plan, which is not yet on the national transport plan agenda.”
Meanwhile, the civil airport still needs to “secure a future,” especially since the process of handing over the military areas within the civil airport system has not yet been completed: the road frontage along the entire length of the runway, the redoubt, the hangar… which still belong to the military property but need to be transferred to the civil domain so that structures and services can be established there.
“I emphasize that the relationships between the entities have been excellent, collaborative, and friendly,” Galperti continues, “but procedures for the delivery of these areas need to be expedited.”
We are certainly destined to become the second-largest airport in Europe, after Frankfurt; we are the only ones with reserved constraints for airport development.
But before jumping into long-term discussions that depend on analyzing Ghedi’s role relative to military strategies—which is not my area of competence—we definitely need to take off as a civilian airport, including with the handover of the structures mentioned,” Milena Moneta.