Milan Bergamo Airport has reported a five per cent year-on-year (YOY) increase by the end of June 2019 as this year seems set to beat all previous passenger traffic figures in the airport’s history.
More than 6.4 million have passed through the Italian airport’s terminals. 19 airlines are operating from the airport this summer including Austrian low-cost carrier Lauda, and soon British Airways with a six times weekly service from London Gatwick.
London Stansted remains the airport’s top international destination, with over 241,000 passengers in the first half, up seven per cent on 2018. Naples is Milan Bergamo’s largest domestic market, seeing a quarter of a million passengers, up 4.8 per cent on first half 2018.
Romania now becomes the airport’s second largest international market after Spain, with YOY growth of 7.1 per cent and a load factor of over 91 per cent, securing Milan Bergamo’s place as the number one airport in Italy for seat capacity and number of destinations serviced in both Romania and Poland.
2019 has also seen the return of flights to Egypt and to Turkey, both as scheduled and as charter services. Pegasus Airlines offers up to 12 weekly flights to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen; with scheduled flights to Egypt served by Air Arabia Egypt, Air Cairo and Albastar.
The airport is set to get even busier as the upcoming temporary closure of Milan Linate Airport between 27 July and 27 October will see significant volumes of traffic move to Milan Bergamo.
Other new routes are starting in the rest of 2019 including Vueling to Barcelona (four times a week) from 24 July, Albastar to Catania from 26 July (twice a week), Alitalia to Rome Fiumicino from 27 July (28 weekly flights), Blue Panorama Airlines to Kefalonia from 29 July (twice a week), while Ryanair will start three new routes to Marseille four times a week (2 October), Agadir twice a week (28 October) and Aqaba twice a week (30 October).
“With 2019 already proving to be another record-breaking year for us in terms of passenger numbers, and a great offering of new routes available to our customers this summer, our positive traffic growth trend looks set to continue,” said Giacomo Cattaneo, director of commercial aviation, SACBO.
“The anticipated surge in traffic from the upcoming temporary closure of Milan Linate will be a challenge, but our team is looking forward to rising to the occasion and giving our brand exposure to customers and airlines who may not have experienced the fantastic service we offer,” added Cattaneo.
