Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Brindisi Airport, also known as Papola Casale or Salento Airport, serves the city of Brindisi in Puglia on Italy's Adriatic coast and combines a busy civil terminal with a long-standing military and humanitarian role. For the visiting VFR or IFR pilot it offers a substantial pair of hard runways, full approach and tower services, and an ILS approach, making it a straightforward and interesting stop in the heel of Italy.
Brindisi Airport lies in southern Italy's Puglia region, a few kilometres from the historic port city of Brindisi. It functions as a joint civil and military aerodrome, handling scheduled and charter airline traffic under Aeroporti di Puglia while continuing to support NATO and national defence operations, as well as the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot. The mix of long runways, active approach control and a layered history of military and civil aviation makes it a worthwhile destination for simulator pilots exploring southern Italy.
The airport sits close to the city of Brindisi in Puglia, in the heel of Italy, at coordinates 40.6606N 17.9481E and an elevation of 26 feet. It is served by its own approach control, indicating it lies within controlled airspace associated with the aerodrome.
Brindisi has two physical runways. The main runway, 13/31, is a hard-surfaced, lit strip roughly 9,512 to 9,999 feet in length depending on direction, and runway 31 is equipped with an ILS. The secondary runway, 05/23, is also hard-surfaced and lit, at approximately 5,898 to 5,899 feet in length.
Brindisi Approach can be contacted on 118.4 MHz or 36.365 MHz, with ground movements handled on 31.355 MHz. Brindisi Tower operates on 118.1 MHz. An ILS is available with a localizer frequency of 109.5 MHz, associated with the instrument runway.
The airfield began life as a military airbase in the 1920s, with the first commercial flights to Rome starting in the 1930s under Ala Littoria Airlines, founded in 1934. After the Second World War, Alitalia took over the Rome route and added a service to Catania. The airport is officially named after Antonio Papola, an Italian aviator who died in an air accident on 13 February 1948 and who had a close association with the city; it is also known locally as Casale, after the neighbourhood adjoining the field, and as Salento Airport, after the surrounding region. The site formally became a civilian airport in 2008 while retaining an operational military facility, known as Military Airport Orazio Pierozzi in memory of a First World War airman. Its strategic position in the Mediterranean, together with nearby road and port links, made it important for national defence and for NATO. In 1994 the United Nations chose Brindisi as its main global logistics base for peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations, a role previously held by Pisa's San Giusto military airport, and in 2000 the UN's humanitarian supply depot was also relocated there from Pisa. This depot is managed by the World Food Programme as the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot, from which aid is directed to crisis regions worldwide.
Brindisi remains a dual-use airport, operating as a civil gateway to Puglia under Aeroporti di Puglia alongside its continuing military functions and its role hosting the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot. It is a focus city for Ryanair and is served by a range of other scheduled and seasonal carriers connecting it to destinations across Italy and Europe.