Vincenzo Florio Airport Trapani–Birgi

Vincenzo Florio Airport Trapani–Birgi Aeroporto Vincenzo Florio di Trapani-Birgi
IATA: TPS – ICAO: LICT
Summary
Airport type	Military/public
Serves	Trapani, Italy
Elevation AMSL	25 ft / 8 m
Coordinates	37°54′43″N 012°29′36″E / 37.91194°N 12.49333°E / 37.91194; 12.49333
Website	airgest.it
Map
TPS Location of the airport in Sicily
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 13R/31L 2,695 8,841 Bitumen
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 1,586,992 Passenger change 14–15 -0.7% Aircraft movements 11,607 Movements change 14–15 -7.4%
Source: Italian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] Statistics from Assaeroporti[2]

Vincenzo Florio Airport Trapani–Birgi (IATA: TPS, ICAO: LICT) (Italian: Aeroporto Vincenzo Florio di Trapani-Birgi), also known simply as Trapani Airport, is a military and public airport serving Trapani, Italy. Located between Trapani and Marsala, it is one of the five civil airports in Sicily, but is also used for military purposes. In 2015, 1,586,992 passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in Sicily. The civil airport is named to the Sicilian wine industrialist and automobile enthusiast Vincenzo Florio.

Overview

The airport is located 8 NM (15 km; 9.2 mi) south^[1] of Trapani, and opened in the early 1960s. After a long period of inactivity the airport was relaunched by the Province of Trapani in 2003, and now hosts several flights, mainly low-cost connections.

History

Inaugurated in the 1961 as a regional airport operating very few flights, Trapani–Birgi became even less important in the 1990s, during which only a flight to Pantelleria, Palermo and Roma was operated.

The airport was relaunched in 2003 by the Province of Trapani and grew up in size after Ryanair started to use it as its main hub to Sicily, bringing several new international flights to and from Trapani. The airport has consequently been recognised as instrumental for the tourism-related economy of Western Sicily.

Italian Air Force

Eurofighter Typhoon of the Aeronautica Militare Italiana in Trapani

The military airfield is intituled to the Italian aviator Livio Bassi. The airport is a base for the "37th Fighter Wing" of the Italian Air Force with the Eurofighter Typhoon, and for the "82th CSAR" (Combat Search and Rescue) with the helicopters AgustaWestland AW139.^[3]

The airfield is one of the four forward operating bases (FOBs) used by the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control stationed out of NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen in Geilenkirchen, Germany. The airport gained international attention during Operation Unified Protector in 2011 when NATO aircraft were based there during military intervention in the Libyan Civil War.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

This table does not include passengers in transit.

Year	National passengers	International passengers	Total passengers	Var % prev. year
2012[6]	1,110,532	465,937	1,578,753	7.36
2011	918,027	550,769	1,470,508	12.6
2010	1,024,755	656,573	1,682,991	57.4
2009	757,555	301,308	1,069,528	100.5
2008	342,025	186,774	533,310	5.2
2007	432,943	72,946	507,185	62.3
2006	305,895	4,802	312,459	19.8
2005	385,612	2,194	389,735	5.2
2004	382,867	19,071	410,898	66.7
2003	224,663	2,281	246,474	393.6
2002	39,175	3,494	49,932	20.0
2001	44,702	5,732	62,430	82.3
2000	n.d.	n.d.	34,321

Data from Assaeroporti.^[7]

Transport

See also

• Catania Airport Vincenzo Bellini – Sicily's major international airport.
• Palermo Airport Falcone e Borsellino – also known as Punta Raisi Airport, another international airport in Sicily
• Comiso Airport Vincenzo Magliocco – it is another of Sicily's international airports
• Trapani–Milo Airport Luigi Broglio – first airport of Trapani, today used by the Italian Space Agency.
• Trapani–Chinisia Airport Livio Bassi – second airport of Trapani, open between 1949 and 1971.

References

External links

Media related to Trapani-Birgi Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Accident history for TPS at Aviation Safety Network
• Current weather for LICT at NOAA/NWS