Falcone Borsellino Airport or simply Palermo Airport, formerly Punta Raisi Airport, is an international airport located at Cinisi, 19 NM west-northwest 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.

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 m 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. The company merged with Meridiana in 2010 to create Meridiana Fly, which continued the service. As a result of Meridiana Fly's decision to rebrand as Air Italy, the route ended in October 2017. Neos will commence a summer-seasonal route from June 2024 with Boeing 787 Dreamliners, reconnecting Palermo to New York.

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:

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

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. There are further connections to/from Palermo, Catania, Messina and rest of Sicily.