Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Abruzzo Airport lies on the Adriatic coast a few kilometres from the centre of Pescara, serving as the only international airport in the Abruzzo region. It offers a single long, lit runway with an ILS on one direction, making it a straightforward and well-equipped destination for visiting pilots, with a history stretching back to a military airfield established in 1917.
Abruzzo Airport, officially the Aeroporto Internazionale d'Abruzzo "Pasquale Liberi", serves the city of Pescara and the wider Abruzzo region on Italy's Adriatic coast. It is the only international airport in the region, handling scheduled low-cost and regional traffic, and is operated by SAGA S.p.A. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot it is notable for its long paved runway, tower and approach service, and an ILS approach, as well as for a flying history that reaches back over a century to a First World War military airfield.
The airport sits on the state road Via Tiburtina Valeria, about 4 km (2.5 mi) from the centre of Pescara on Italy's Adriatic coast, roughly 180 km (110 mi) east of Rome across the Apennines. As an international airport handling scheduled airline traffic, it is served by both an approach and a tower frequency, indicating controlled airspace around the field. It is the principal airport for the Abruzzo region and also caters for traffic from the neighbouring Molise, Marche and Gargano areas.
The airfield has a single physical runway, 04/22, of hard surface construction and lit for night operations. Runway 04 is 7,582 ft long, while runway 22 is 7,322 ft long and is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches. Field elevation is 36 ft.
Approach control operates on 120.05 MHz and the tower on 118.45 MHz. Runway 22 is equipped with an ILS, providing an instrument approach for arrivals in poor visibility; historically the airport lacked such radio support, which contributed to a suspension of airline services in 1979 before the ILS-supported requirements could be met.
The airport lies immediately adjacent to the Adriatic coastline, which forms a clear and unmistakable visual reference for pilots approaching from the sea or tracking along the coast. The Via Tiburtina Valeria road, running past the airport boundary, and the built-up area of Pescara just to the north-east are further useful landmarks when visually locating the field.
The airfield's origins date to 1917, when a military airstrip was built alongside the Via Tiburtina Valeria following the bombing of Pescara by Austro-Hungarian aircraft; the Regio Esercito arrived there on 26 October 1917 with two Farman 14 aircraft, and the 302nd Squadron, flying Ansaldo SVA fighter-bombers, formed there in July 1918. From 1921 the airfield took the name of Pasquale Liberi, an aviator and friend of the poet Gabriele d'Annunzio. It was expanded to 50 hectares and modernised in 1927. Commercial aviation began in 1933 with a thrice-weekly Società Aerea Mediterranea service to Rome Urbe, routed via an intermediate stop near L'Aquila. After the Second World War, Transadriatica restarted services to Rome Urbe in 1947 using a Douglas DC-3, and further routes followed, including a north-south service linking Milan, Pescara, Foggia, Bari and Brindisi. Itavia, formed in 1958, opened a Pescara-Rome Urbe route in 1959 and expanded services through the 1960s and early 1970s to cities including Milan, Ancona, Bologna and Palermo. In 1973 the historian Bruce Barrymore Halpenny arranged demonstration flights by a British Caledonian BAC One-Eleven, including a Gatwick-Pescara-Gatwick service, to prove the feasibility of large commercial aircraft using the airport, helping open the region to tourism. From 1 February 1979 Itavia was forced to suspend flights to Pescara after ANPAC revised minimum landing requirements at some Italian airports, requirements that depended on radio aids such as ILS that were not then installed at Pescara; Itavia itself ceased operations in mid-1980. Services to Milan resumed from 1981 with Aermediterranea via Ancona, followed by Aero Trasporti Italiani from 1984, and Alitalia introduced a direct MD-80 service to Milan in 1988. The current passenger terminal opened in 1996, replacing the older building, which was converted for technical and logistical use.
Abruzzo Airport is today operated by SAGA S.p.A. as a regional international airport handling scheduled low-cost and other airline services, with passenger numbers rising from around 114,000 in 2000 to over 700,000 by 2019. The terminal, opened in 1996, was extended in 2011 and restructured in 2018, and the airport has undergone further redevelopment of its runway, aprons and safety systems as part of an ongoing master plan for expansion.
