Bari International Airport
Encyclopedia
Bari "Karol Wojtyła" Airport is an airport serving the city of Bari
in Italy
. It is approximately 8 km (5 mi) northwest from the town centre. The airport is also known as Palese Airport after a nearby neighbourhood.
The airport's facilities were upgraded in 2005-2006 with the opening of a new passenger terminal equipped with 4 loading bridges, a new control tower and a multistorey car park.
The airport handled 3,398,110 passengers in 2010.
. During the World War II
Italian Campaign
it was seized by the British Eighth Army in late September 1943 and turned into an Allied military airfield. Until the end of the war in May 1945, it was used by the Royal Air Force
and the United States Army Air Forces
Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Force
s both as an operational airfield as well as a command and control base. In addition the airfield was used by the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
(Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana, or ACI), or Air Force of the South (Aeronautica del Sud). After the war it was turned over to the post-war Air Force of the Italian Republic (Aeronautica Militare Italiana).
In the 1960s it was opened to civil flights and Alitalia
schedules regular flights to Rome
, Catania
, Palermo
, Ancona
, Venice
. The routes were later taken over by ATI, using a Fokker F27
airplane. When ATI put into operation the new DC-9-30 it became necessary to create a new runway, while the military complex was still used as passenger terminal.
In 1981 a new building was completed, originally intended to be used as cargo terminal, but it became in fact the airport’s new passengers terminal. In 1990, with the Football World Cup, the runway was extended and the terminal was upgraded, going through a further renovation in 2000.
However, the traffic increase showed the infrastructural limitations of the airport and in 2002 the founding stone of the new passenger terminal was laid out. At the same time, flight infrastructures (aircraft parking areas, runway etc.) were upgraded. In 2005, the new terminal was completed and opened to passengers.
In 2005, construction works for a new control tower began and they were completed the following year. In 2006 a further extension of the runway was begun, and in 2007 the planning of an extension of the passenger terminals was commissioned.
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is approximately 8 km (5 mi) northwest from the town centre. The airport is also known as Palese Airport after a nearby neighbourhood.
The airport's facilities were upgraded in 2005-2006 with the opening of a new passenger terminal equipped with 4 loading bridges, a new control tower and a multistorey car park.
The airport handled 3,398,110 passengers in 2010.
History
The airport of Bari was originally a military airfield, built in the 1930s by the Regia AeronauticaRegia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
. During the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
it was seized by the British Eighth Army in late September 1943 and turned into an Allied military airfield. Until the end of the war in May 1945, it was used by the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Force
Fifteenth Air Force
The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....
s both as an operational airfield as well as a command and control base. In addition the airfield was used by the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
The Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force , or Air Force of the South , was the air force of the Royalist "Badoglio government" in southern Italy during the last years of World War II. The ACI was formed in southern Italy in October 1943 after the Italian Armistice in September...
(Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana, or ACI), or Air Force of the South (Aeronautica del Sud). After the war it was turned over to the post-war Air Force of the Italian Republic (Aeronautica Militare Italiana).
In the 1960s it was opened to civil flights and Alitalia
Alitalia
Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. , in its later stages known as Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. in Extraordinary Administration, was the former Italian flag carrier...
schedules regular flights to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
, Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. The routes were later taken over by ATI, using a Fokker F27
Fokker F27
The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker.-Design and development:Design of the Fokker F27 started in the 1950s as a replacement to the successful Douglas DC-3 airliner...
airplane. When ATI put into operation the new DC-9-30 it became necessary to create a new runway, while the military complex was still used as passenger terminal.
In 1981 a new building was completed, originally intended to be used as cargo terminal, but it became in fact the airport’s new passengers terminal. In 1990, with the Football World Cup, the runway was extended and the terminal was upgraded, going through a further renovation in 2000.
However, the traffic increase showed the infrastructural limitations of the airport and in 2002 the founding stone of the new passenger terminal was laid out. At the same time, flight infrastructures (aircraft parking areas, runway etc.) were upgraded. In 2005, the new terminal was completed and opened to passengers.
In 2005, construction works for a new control tower began and they were completed the following year. In 2006 a further extension of the runway was begun, and in 2007 the planning of an extension of the passenger terminals was commissioned.
Airlines and destinations
Accidents and incidents
- On 6 August 2005, Tuninter Flight 1153Tuninter Flight 1153Tuninter Flight 1153 was a Tuninter Airlines flight from Bari International Airport in Bari, Italy, to Djerba-Zarzis Airport in Djerba, Tunisia. On 6 August 2005, the Tuninter ATR-72 ditched into the Mediterranean Sea about 18 miles from the city of Palermo. Sixteen of the 39 people on board died...
, a TuninterTuninterTunisAir Express Initially limited to domestic routes , Tuninter, as it was then known, obtained permission to begin international operations in 2000...
ATR 72 en route from Bari to DjerbaDjerbaDjerba , also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is, at 514 km², the largest island of North Africa, located in the Gulf of Gabes, off the coast of Tunisia.-Description:...
, TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, ditched into the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
about 18 miles from the city of PalermoPalermoPalermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
. Sixteen of the 39 people on board died. The accident resulted from engine fuel starvationFuel StarvationFuel starvation and fuel exhaustion are problems that can affect internal combustion engines fuelled by either diesel, kerosene, petroleum or any other combustible liquid or gas. If no fuel is available for an engine to burn, it cannot function...
due to the installation of ATR 42 fuel quantity indicators in the ATR 72.