Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport

Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (Italian: Aeroporto di Bologna-Guglielmo Marconi) (IATA: BLQ, ICAO: LIPE) is an international airport serving the city of Bologna in Italy. It is approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) northwest of the city centre in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The airport is named after Bologna native Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian electrical engineer and Nobel laureate.[2]

Bologna
Guglielmo Marconi Airport

Aeroporto di Bologna-Guglielmo Marconi
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorAeroporto di Bologna S.p.A.
ServesBologna, Italy
Hub forRyanair, neos
Elevation AMSL123 ft / 37 m
Coordinates44°32′07.6″N 11°17′19.2″E
Websitewww.bologna-airport.it
Map
BLQ is located in Emilia-Romagna
BLQ
BLQ
Location of the airport in Italy
BLQ is located in Italy
BLQ
BLQ
BLQ (Italy)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 9,196 2,800 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers8,496,000
Passenger change 21-22Increase 107.0%
Aircraft movements70,871
Movements change 21-22Increase 66.8%
Cargo (tons)58,605
Cargo change 21-22Increase 16.9%
Source: Assaeroporti[1]

History

The original Bologna airport was opened in 1933 some 500 metres to the west of the present building.[3] This airport was used until the 1970s, by which time it had become impractically small for passenger numbers and was replaced by the present airport.[4]

In June 2005, Eurofly began a nonstop flight from Bologna to New York City. It operated the route on a seasonal basis with Airbus A330s.[5][6] The link lasted until 2008.[7] In June 2019, American Airlines introduced seasonal service to Philadelphia on a Boeing 767.[8][9] Given Bologna's proximity to Tuscany, the company anticipated that tourists bound for the region would take the flight. However, it had difficulty attracting them and discontinued the route in September 2019.[10]

Facilities
Terminal building
Main apron

Terminal

There is one terminal, which underwent an expansion during 2011–2013. It now covers a total surface 36,100m2, of which 5,500m2 are shopping areas. A new baggage handling system was installed and there are now 24 departure gates, all are bus gates since there are not yet any jetways at the airport.[11]

Runway

Bologna airport has one runway, 12/30, made of asphalt; its dimensions are 2,800 by 45 metres (9,186 by 148 ft).[12]

Airlines and destinations

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

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens
AeroItalia Seasonal: Comiso
Air Albania Tirana
Air Arabia Casablanca
Air Cairo Cairo (begins 4 November 2023),[13] Luxor (begins 4 November 2023),[13] Sharm El Sheikh[13]
Air Dolomiti Munich
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Nostrum Seasonal charter: Palma de Mallorca[14]
Air SerbiaBelgrade
Albawings Tirana
Austrian Airlines Vienna
British Airways London–Heathrow
Brussels Airlines Brussels
easyJet London–Gatwick
Emirates Dubai–International
Eurowings Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
FlyOne Chișinău
HiSky Chișinău
Iberia Madrid
ITA Airways Rome–Fiumicino
KLM Amsterdam
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Luxair Luxembourg
Neos Marsa Alam, Sharm El Sheikh, Tenerife–South
Seasonal: Cagliari, Fuerteventura, Heraklion, Ibiza, Karpathos, Kos, Menorca, Mykonos, Olbia, Rhodes
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen, Oslo
Nouvelair Tunis[15]
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Play Seasonal: Reykjavík–Keflavík
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca[16]
Ryanair Alghero, Amman–Queen Alia, Athens, Barcelona, Bari, Beauvais, Berlin, Billund, Brindisi, Bucharest–Otopeni, Budapest, Cagliari, Catania, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Crotone, Dublin, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Fès, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Kraków, Lamezia Terme, Lanzarote, Lisbon, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Madrid, Málaga, Malta, Manchester, Marseille, Nuremberg, Palermo, Paphos, Porto, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Sofia, Stockholm–Arlanda, Tel Aviv, Tenerife–South, Thessaloniki, Tirana (begins 31 October 2023),[17] Trapani, Valencia, Vienna, Warsaw–Modlin, Wrocław, Zaragoza
Seasonal: Alicante,[18] Corfu, Chania, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kos, Menorca, Mykonos, Palma de Mallorca, Prague,[19] Preveza/Lefkada, Rhodes, Toulouse, Zadar
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen
Seasonal: Stockholm–Arlanda
Swiss International Air Lines Zurich
TAP Air Portugal Lisbon
Transavia Seasonal: Eindhoven
TUI fly Belgium Marrakech
Tunisair Tunis
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Volotea Seasonal: Olbia
Vueling Barcelona, Paris–Orly
Wizz Air Bucharest–Otopeni, Catania, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Iași, Skopje, Sofia, Timișoara, Tirana, Warsaw–Chopin

Statistics
Annual passenger traffic at BLQ airport. See Wikidata query.
Passenger numbers at Bologna-Borgo Panigale[20]
Year Passengers Handled Change % Aircraft Movements Change % Cargo (tonnes) Change %
2000 3,524,789 Increase 6.1% 61,909 Increase 2.0% 25,034 Increase 2.3%
2001 3,440,051 Decrease −2.2% 56,746 Decrease −0.8% 26,197 Increase 4.7%
2002 3,414,475 Decrease −0.7% 54,956 Decrease −3.2% 24,959 Decrease −4.7%
2003 3,562,010 Increase 4.3% 56,738 Increase 3.2% 28,211 Increase 13.0%
2004 2,908,271 Decrease −18.4% 44,804 Decrease −21.0% 21,106 Decrease −25.2%
2005 3,690,953 Increase 26.9% 54,157 Increase 20.9% 25,469 Increase 20.7%
2006 4,001,436 Increase 8.4% 63,585 Increase 17.4% 32,465 Increase 27.5%
2007 4,361,951 Increase 9.0% 66,698 Increase 4.9% 18,700 Decrease −42.4%
2008 4,225,446 Decrease −3.1% 62,042 Decrease −7.0% 26,497 Increase 41.7%
2009 4,782,284 Increase 13.2% 64,925 Increase 4.7% 27,329 Increase 3.1%
2010 5,511,669 Increase 15.3% 70,269 Increase 8.2% 37,800 Increase 38.3%
2011 5,885,884 Increase 6.8% 69,153 Decrease −1.6% 43,788 Increase 15.8%
2012 5,958,648 Increase 1.2% 67,529 Decrease −2.4% 40,645 Decrease −7.2%
2013 6,193,783 Increase 4.0% 65,392 Decrease −3.2% 44,150 Increase 8.6%
2014 6,580,481 Increase 6.2% 65,058 Decrease −0.5% 41,789 Decrease −5.4%
2015 6,889,742 Increase 4.7% 64,571 Decrease −0.7% 40,999 Decrease −1.9%
2016 7,680,992 Increase 11.5% 69,697 Increase 7.9% 47,709 Increase 16.4%
2017 8,198,156 Increase 6.7% 71,878 Increase 3.1% 56,132 Increase 11.8%
2018 8,506,658 Increase 3.8% 71,503 Decrease 0.2% 52,681 Decrease 6.1%
Domestic destinations by passenger traffic (2018)[21]
PositionCityPassengers
1Catania395,367
2Rome295,627
3Palermo285,648
4Brindisi177,379
5Bari167,098
6Lamezia Terme165,553
7Cagliari126,093
8Napoli105,199
9Alghero104,677
International destinations by passenger traffic (2018)
PositionCityPassengers
1Spain Barcelona, Spain340,319
2Germany Frankfurt, Germany302,331
3France Paris, France298,522
4United Kingdom London, United Kingdom (Heathrow)293,385
5Spain Madrid, Spain285,343
6Netherlands Amsterdam, Netherlands226,935
7United Kingdom London, United Kingdom (Stansted)221,658
8Germany Munich, Germany203,185
9Romania Bucharest, Romania188,553
10Turkey Istanbul, Turkey183,785

Ground transportation

By monorail
Marconi Express monorail

The airport is about 5 kilometres (3 mi) from Bologna Centrale railway station. Opened in 2020, the Marconi Express monorail connects the airport to Bologna Centrale railway station with a travel time of approximately 7.5 minutes.[22]

Soon after its inauguration, the service started suffering significant disruptions, culminating with its suspension between November 2021 and February 2022, with surreptitious substitution via normal buses, despite oblivious customers paying the full fare for a service they never received.[23][24] As of February 2022, the issues persists, and normal buses are still integrating the service.[25]

By car

Motorways:

By bus

A shuttle bus service, route Aerobus (BLQ), used to run between the station and the airport before the advent of Marconi Express. In case of events at the Bologna Fiere trade fair venue, BLQ operated a direct connection between the Airport and the bus terminus Fiera Viale Aldo Moro.[27] Route BLQ has been withdrawn as of 18 November 2020, with the introduction of the Marconi Express[28]

The only TPER bus connections available to and from the airport are routes 54, between the Airport and Borgo Panigale; and 944, between the Airport and the Maggiore Hospital, calling at Via della Birra, Via del Triumvirato, Pontelungo, and Santa Viola. Route 944 is extended to Bologna Centrale railway station in its last two departures at 00.15 and 00.45, while its first two departures from the railway station are at 5.20 and 5.30; due to the people mover being yet to begin service.[29]

From the nearby Via della Birra and Via del Triumvirato, it is possible to board suburban routes (also operated by TPER), 81, 81A, 91 and 91A to Longara, Padulle, Bagno di Piano and Calderara di Reno.

The airport has daily direct bus connections with Ferrara, Florence, Modena, Cervia, Ravenna, and Rimini, and three times a week with Ascoli Piceno.

By train

The nearest railway station is Calderara-Bargellino railway station, about 4 km from the airport. However, there is no public transport connection between the two. Passengers coming by rail are expected to change for the Monorail at Bologna Central Station.

See also

References
  1. "Statistiche" (PDF). assaeroporti.com.
  2. "Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ)". Laenderdaten.info (in German). Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  3. ^ Aeroporto di Bologna,sez. cenni storici, su italiarimborso.it. URL accessed 14 June 2022.
  4. La storia dell'aeroporto, su volabologna.it. URL accessed 14 June 2022.
  5. Stefanato, Paolo (14 June 2005). "Eurofly lancia nuovi voli per New York e aspetta il 2006 per quotarsi in Borsa". Il Giornale (in Italian). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  6. "Inaugurato il volo di linea Bologna-New York. Da oggi attivi tre collegamenti settimanali diretti". Bologna Airport (in Italian). 13 June 2005. Archived from the original on 3 June 2006. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  7. Testa, Alessandra (10 August 2019). "Addio Philadelphia, American Airlines ferma il volo dal 2020". Corriere di Bologna (in Italian). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  8. "American Airlines launches six new connections from hubs". Anna.aero. 10 June 2019. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  9. "American Airlines is Sending You on Your Way". American Airlines. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  10. Gilbertson, Dawn (8 August 2019). "American Airlines adding first flights to Africa, Poland, returning to Tel Aviv". USA Today. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  11. "Terminal restyling and expansion". Archived from the original on 28 July 2013.
  12. "Telepass - Car Parks - Bologna Airport G. Marconi". Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  13. "Air Cairo NW23 Bologna Service Adjustment". aeroroutes.com. 18 September 2023.
  14. "AIR NOSTRUM NS23 PALMA DE MALLORCA CHARTER NETWORK ADDITIONS".
  15. https://www.nouvelair.com/en/actualites/nouvelair-lance-une-nouvelle-ligne-reliant-tunis-a-bologne.
  16. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230922-at1q24blq
  17. "Ryanair sbarca in Albania. Attacco frontale a Wizz Air". 8 June 2023.
  18. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230918-frnw23
  19. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230918-frnw23
  20. "Statistiche - Assaeroporti". assaeroporti.com.
  21. "2018 traffic statistics" (PDF). enac.gov.
  22. "Il tracciato". Archived from the original on 21 December 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  23. "Giostra People Mover, il comitato contrario: "Tutto previsto, si completi l'Sfm"". 15 November 2021.
  24. "People Mover, le ragioni del flop e la contesa tra Comune e Marconi Express". 31 January 2022.
  25. "People mover, ripartite due navette". February 2022.
  26. "Driving directions to & from Bologna Airport G. Marconi". Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  27. "Linea Aerobus: Aeroporto - Stazione Centrale".
  28. "Il giorno del People Mover: oggi la prima corsa Stazione-Aeroporto". BolognaToday.
  29. "tper_Bo944_5.pdf" (PDF).

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