Palermo Airport

For the airport in Palermo, Argentina, see Aeroparque Jorge Newbery.

Falcone Borsellino Airport (IATA: PMO, ICAO: LICJ) (Italian: Aeroporto Falcone Borsellino) or simply Palermo Airport, formerly Punta Raisi Airport, is an international airport located at Cinisi, 19 NM (35 km; 22 mi) west-northwest^[1] of Palermo, the capital city of the Italian island of Sicily. It is the second biggest airport in Sicily in terms of passengers after Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, with 7,118,087 passengers handled in 2022.

Falcone Borsellino Airport Aeroporto Falcone Borsellino
IATA: PMO ICAO: LICJ
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Government
Serves	Palermo, Italy
Location	Cinisi, Palermo, Italy
Opened	1960
Focus city for	Ryanair Volotea
Elevation AMSL	65 ft / 20 m
Coordinates	38°10′55″N 013°05′58″E
Website	gesap.it
Map
PMO Location in Italy
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07/25 3,326 10,912 Bitumen 02/20 2,068 6,784 Bitumen
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 7,118,057 Passenger change 21–22 55.54% Movements 52,008 Movements change 21–22 20.6% Cargo (tons) 3,077 Cargo change 20–21 21.4%
Source: Italian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] Statistics from Assaeroporti[2]

History

The airport was given the name Falcone Borsellino in memory of the two leading anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino who were murdered by the Sicilian Mafia in 1992. A 1.90-metre-diameter (6.2 ft) plaque featuring their portraits can be found to the right of one of the main outside entrances to the departure hall, set into a mosaic of Sicily. Created by the Sicilian sculptor Tommaso Geraci, it bears the inscription Giovanni Falcone–Paolo Borsellino–Gli Altri–L'orgoglio della Nuova Sicilia (Giovanni Falcone–Paolo Borsellino–The Others–The Pride of the New Sicily).

In 1994, GESAP was charged with the partial management of the airport through a convention which granted the company a 20-year mandate to run land-side activities (the airport buildings and surrounding areas). In April 1999, GESAP obtained an anticipated mandate to manage the airport's air side activities, and, more specifically, the flight infrastructure (runways, links, taxiways and aprons).

In June 2005, Eurofly launched seasonal flights from Palermo to New York City using Airbus A330s.^[3][4][5] The company merged with Meridiana in 2010 to create Meridiana Fly, which continued the service.^[6] As a result of Meridiana Fly's decision to rebrand as Air Italy, the route ended in October 2017.^[7][8] Neos will commence a summer-seasonal route from June 2024 with Boeing 787 Dreamliners, reconnecting Palermo to New York.^[9]

Management

GESAP S.p.a. is the airport management company of the airport. It has a fully paid-up share capital of €15,912,332 divided between the Regional Province of Palermo, the Comune of Palermo, the Chamber of Commerce, the Comune of Cinisi and other minor partners.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Palermo Airport:

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Seasonal: Athens[10]
AeroItalia	Bergamo,[11] Rome–Fiumicino
Air France	Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Serbia	Seasonal: Belgrade[12]
Austrian Airlines	Seasonal: Vienna
British Airways	Seasonal: London–Heathrow
DAT	Lampedusa, Pantelleria
easyJet	Amsterdam, Basel/Mulhouse, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Paris–Charles de Gaulle Seasonal: Geneva, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Lyon, Nice, Paris–Orly, Porto
Egyptair	Seasonal charter: Sharm El Sheikh[13]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
Iberia	Seasonal: Madrid[14]
ITA Airways	Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino
LOT Polish Airlines	Seasonal charter: Warsaw–Chopin[15]
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg
Neos	Seasonal: New York–JFK[16]
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Copenhagen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Ryanair	Barcelona, Bari, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin, Bologna, Budapest, Cagliari, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Forlì, Genoa, Hahn, Kraków, London–Stansted,[17] Madrid, Marseille, Memmingen, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Nuremberg, Perugia, Pisa, Poznań,[18] Rome–Fiumicino,[19] Trieste, Turin, Valencia, Venice, Verona, Wrocław Seasonal: Alghero, Brindisi, Bucharest–Otopeni,[20] Cuneo,[20] Dublin,[21] Edinburgh, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Parma,[22] Rimini, Vienna
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal: Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda
Smartwings	Seasonal charter: Katowice, Prague,[23] Warsaw–Chopin[24]
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich
Transavia	Seasonal: Rotterdam
Transavia France	Paris–Orly Seasonal: Lyon, Marseille,[25] Nantes
TUI fly Belgium	Seasonal: Brussels
Tunisair	Tunis
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul
United Airlines	Seasonal: Newark (begins 22 May 2025)[26]
Universal Air	Malta[27]
Volotea	Ancona, Florence, Naples, Turin, Verona Seasonal: Athens, Bordeaux,[28] Brest,[29] Deauville, Lille, Lourdes, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Olbia, Santorini, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Zakynthos
Vueling	Barcelona Seasonal: Florence

Statistics

Apron view

Aerial view

Annual passenger traffic at PMO airport. See Wikidata query.

Accidents and incidents

• On 5 May 1972, Alitalia Flight 112 flew into Mt. Longa on approach to Palermo Airport. All 115 aboard were killed.
• On 23 December 1978, Alitalia Flight 4128 crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea while on approach to Palermo Airport.
• On 6 August 2005, Tuninter Flight 1153, an ATR 72–500, ran out of fuel while en route and ditched about 29 kilometres (18 mi) from the city of Palermo. 16 of the 39 people on board died.
• On 24 September 2010, Wind Jet Flight 243, operated by Airbus A319-132 EI-EDM,^[30] landed short of the runway after encountering a thunderstorm and windshear on approach. The aircraft was substantially damaged when it impacted the localiser. Both main undercarriage sets collapsed and the aircraft was evacuated by the emergency slides.^[31] Around 20 passengers were injured in the evacuation.^[30]

Ground transport

Train

The airport's railway facility, Punta Raisi railway station, is the northwestern terminus of Palermo metropolitan railway service. It links the airport with Palermo Centrale railway station. A typical timetable on work days is a train every 30 minutes in each direction between early morning and around 10.00 pm.

Bus

There are several private bus companies, which stop at the bus station outside the terminal building and connect the airport with nearby Palermo city.^[32] There are further connections to/from Palermo, Catania, Messina and rest of Sicily.

See also

• Catania Fontanarossa Airport Vincenzo Bellini – Sicily's major international airport
• Trapani Birgi Airport Vincenzo Florio – another of Sicily's international airports
• Comiso Airport Vincenzo Magliocco – another of Sicily's international airports
• List of airports in Italy

References

1. "EAD Basic". Retrieved 23 April 2020.
2. "Traffic Data 2021" (PDF).
3. Connelly, Marjorie (15 May 2005). "Advisory: Travel notes; Comings and goings". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
4. McCartney, Scott (10 May 2005). "New bargain airlines offer cheaper fares to Europe". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
5. "Meridiana, Palermo più vicina a New York: raddoppiati i voli". Palermo Today (in Italian). 26 November 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
6. Dunn, Graham (1 March 2010). "Merged life begins for Meridiana and Eurofly". Airline Business. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
7. "L'America si avvicina: da maggio torna il volo Palermo-New York". Palermo Today (in Italian). 22 August 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
8. "Palermo to see TATL flights as United expands to Europe". Ch-aviation. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
9. "Neos Schedules Palermo – New York Nonstop Service in NS24". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
10. "Aegean Airlines NS24 International Network Changes – 21JAN24".
11. "Nord e Sud più vicini: da luglio un nuovo collegamento di Aeroitalia tra Bergamo e Palermo".
12. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231107-juns24fltnbr
13. "https://www.palermotoday.it/economia/palermo-sharm-el-sheikh-2024-voli.html". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
14. "Iberia Resumes 3 European Routes in 3Q24". AeroRoutes.
15. "Istanbul, Porto e Copenhagen: Ecco le nuove rotte dall'aeroporto di Palermo".
16. "Neos apre il volo diretto Palermo-New York da giugno". Travelnonstop (in Italian). 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
17. "Ryanair NS23 A320 Network Additions – 05FEB23". Aeroroutes.
18. "Mniej tras Ryanair z Modlina, więcej z Katowic i Poznania". 5 March 2024.
19. "Ryanair May – Oct 2023 Italy Frequency Variations – 14MAY23". Aeroroutes.
20. "Ryanair NW23 Network Changes – 17SEP23".
21. "Ryanair cuts 17 routes and 19 aircraft from Dublin Airport over 45% increase in airport costs". 21 September 2023.
22. "Ryanair NS23 Network Additions Summary – 26MAR23". Aeroroutes.
23. "Smartwings vola su Palermo". 10 June 2023.
24. "Biuro podróży ITAKA | Wakacje - wycieczki i wczasy zagraniczne". itaka.pl.
25. "Transavia France NS24 Network Additions – 19DEC23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
26. "United Airlines Bets on Offbeat Destinations, Adds Mongolia and Greenland for 2025". Skift. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
27. "Malta's Universal Air to launch scheduled ops out of Malta". 13 March 2024.
28. "Volotea, profumo di Francia: dalla prossima primavera ecco il Palermo-Bordeaux".
29. "Volotea avvicina Palermo alla Bretagna: arriva l'aereo diretto per Brest".
30. "EI-EDM Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
31. Hradecky, Simon (24 September 2010). "Accident: Windjet A319 at Palermo on Sep 24th 2010, touched down short of runway". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
32. "Falcone–Borsellino Airport". Retrieved 6 February 2017.

External links

Media related to Palermo Punta Raisi Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for LICJ at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for PMO at Aviation Safety Network