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Taranto-Grottaglie "Marcello Arlotta" Airport sits in Puglia, southern Italy, a general aviation and industrial field best known for its role in Boeing 787 fuselage logistics and its long military heritage. Its single long, ILS-equipped runway and quiet traffic levels make it a straightforward but historically rich destination for the VFR visitor.
Taranto-Grottaglie "Marcello Arlotta" Airport serves the towns of Taranto and Grottaglie in the province of Taranto, Puglia. It is a general aviation field with no scheduled airline service, but it is far from quiet: Alenia Aeronautica builds large composite fuselage sections for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a hangar beside the apron, and several times a month a Boeing 747 Dreamlifter, operated by Atlas Air, calls in to collect these parts for onward delivery to Boeing's final assembly line in Charleston, South Carolina. The airport is named after Marcello Arlotta (1886-1918), an Italian aviator, and its mix of light aviation, industrial cargo operations and a very long runway gives it an unusual character for a field of its size.
The airport lies in Puglia in the heel of Italy, about 1.5 kilometres from the town of Monteiasi, 4 kilometres from Grottaglie and some 16 kilometres from the city of Taranto itself.
The field has a single physical runway, 17/35, oriented broadly north-south. Runway 17 is 9,782 feet long and runway 35 is 9,678 feet long; both are hard-surfaced and lit, and runway 35 is served by an ILS approach. This is an unusually long runway for a general aviation field, reflecting its heritage as a heavy bomber base and its continuing use by large cargo aircraft.
Grottaglie provides both approach and tower service on 118.7 MHz, with an ILS available for runway 35.
The airfield dates back to 1923, when it served as a military base for the Regia Aeronautica. During the Second World War it took on major strategic importance: after the Allied invasion of Italy it was used jointly by the United States Army Air Forces and the Royal Air Force, and was developed for heavy bomber operations. It became a major base for Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberator heavy bombers flying the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, while Twelfth Air Force tactical bombers, including A-20 Havocs and B-25 Mitchells, operated from the field in support of Allied ground forces during the Italian Campaign. A long list of RAF squadrons also passed through, including Nos. 6, 14, 38, 92, 112, 126, 185, 221, 249, 250, 255 and 624 Squadrons, flying types such as the Bristol Beaufighter between 1943 and 1945. Anti-aircraft protection was provided from September 1943 by the 205th Battery of the 89th (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, guarding the growing USAAF presence. After the war the airfield passed to local authorities; in 1950 it hosted the Italian Air Force's 86th Gruppo Antisom, an anti-submarine warfare wing, and by 1979 it was operating as a naval air station of the Italian Navy. More recently, in July 2018 there were announcements of plans to develop the aerodrome as a commercial spaceport.
Today the airport functions primarily as a general aviation and industrial aviation field, with no scheduled passenger airline service. Its most distinctive modern role is supporting Boeing 787 production: large fuselage sections built by Alenia Aeronautica in an adjacent hangar are flown out aboard Atlas Air-operated Boeing 747 Dreamlifter aircraft bound for the Boeing plant in Charleston, South Carolina. The airport has also been designated a national interest airport, with ongoing development plans aimed at expanding its role as an integrated logistics and aeronautical research platform.
