Verona Airport Growth and Future Prospects Near Lake Garda
An airport destined to grow further, but above all, a strategy that will lead to the creation of an airport system whose catchment area will be represented by Lake Garda.
Setting aside political disputes and also putting aside the news of the presidency change between Massimo Ferro and Ferdinando Sanson, from the financial statement presented by Valerio Catullo Spa one can deduce not only the actual situation of the Verona airport, but also the future potentials, and the close relationship between Villafranca and the nearby Brescia airport of Montichiari.
Financial results and development of the airport
The 1999 fiscal year closed for Catullo with a loss exceeding 2 billion lire, specifically 2,241,134,214. The 1998 financial year ended, instead, with a profit over 2 billion lire, amounting to 2,354,710,600.
This deficit was influenced by the key event that characterized the entire management of the past year: the opening of the Montichiari airport and the transfer of traffic from Catullo during the 81 days when Verona’s airport was closed for runway resurfacing.
Indeed, the creation of an alternative airport to Villafranca proved to be a fortunate insight, as reflected in the data from those 81 days. During that period, over 308,000 passengers passed through Montichiari, and there were nearly 5,200 flights.
This was followed, due to significant shortcomings at the Brescia airport—such as inadequate fire safety services and, consequently, restrictions on the landing of aircraft larger than the Atr 42—by a negative impact on the financial performance of Catullo.
In fact, Villafranca’s traffic yielded a profit of 6.4 billion lire, while Montichiari’s operational result was negative in the second half of 1999, with losses amounting to 3.6 billion lire, further burdened by additional charges of 5 billion lire.
Results and outlook for 1999
The year was overwhelmingly positive for Catullo. Particularly regarding domestic traffic, 1999 saw the inauguration of two new routes to Bari and Alghero, in addition to doubling the summer frequency to Olbia and launching a summer connection to Lampedusa.
On the international front, Sabena inaugurated a new daily route to Brussels, and Air Dolomiti tripled its daily flights to Paris and Barcelona, in addition to doubling the daily connection to Frankfurt and adding a flight to Düsseldorf.
Finally, the Romanian airline Tarom increased its Verona routes, including destinations such as Arad and Oradea.
International routes brought significant satisfaction, with a 20% increase in passenger numbers compared to 1998. The charter sector, one of Catullo’s key strengths, also performed well, registering a healthy growth rate of 5.5%.
Moreover, as noted by Catullo’s management, the investment made to improve the freight terminal is paying off. In 1999, freight traffic reached over 6,700 tons, a 10% increase over the previous year.
The signs from the first months of 2000 are encouraging. During the first two months of the year, over 255,000 passengers passed through the airports in the Garda system, representing a 19.2% increase compared to 1999.