Brindisi Airport (BDS)

Brindisi Airport is located in southern Italy, in the Apulia, or Puglia region. It is only about two or three kilometres north from the city, and provides quite an important gateway for visitors coming to explore nearby areas. It is not really a popular stop for tourists as Lecce and Salento offer a bit more of interest. The Valle d’Itria is always within easy distance, which is a countryside region with places such as Alberobello and Martino Franca. Bari, Trani, Matera and Barletta are also nearby areas. The airport is also known as Aeroporto del Salento, or Papola Casale, due to its locations in these areas

The official code (IATA code) is BDS, and its ICAO code is LIBR. Brindisi airport is a division of Aeroporti di Puglia, and together with Bari, handles most of the passengers coming in and out of the Puglia region in Italy. Another two airports are also part of the Aeroporti di Puglia, and they are Foggia and Taranto. The Salento area of Italy is also commonly referred to as the ‘heel of Italy’s boot’. Others nearby include the airports of Tirana, 170 km away, Crotone, around 198 km away, Corfu, about 204 km away, and Tivat, which is situated approximately the same distance from Brindisi as Tivat Airport. Brindisi is a small Italian seaport town.

There are a few airline companies that operate and offer flights to a number of destinations. It is an international airport; therefore further afield destinations can be reached as well. However, many of the flights serve other Italian airports. Ryanair is the airline company that handles the greatest number of destinations and flights and they are an airline company that is well known for being a ‘low-cost giant’. Some of their destinations include Bologna, Brussels South-Charleroi, Eindhoven, Girona, London-Stansted (a popular long-haul destination), Milan-Orio al Serio, Pisa, Rome-Ciampino, Venice-Treviso and Verona. Alitalia is another popular airline company with flights to Milan-Linate, Rome-Fiumicino and Venice-Marco Polo, while Air One offers flights to Milan-Malpensa. EasyJet, another low-cost airline, offers seasonal flights to Paris-Orly, and regular flights to Milan-Malpensa and Geneva. Other airline companies include Meridiana Fly, Helvetic Airways, KLM, Air France, TAP-Air Portugal and Air Baltic. Rome, Pisa and Milan are some of the most popular destinations.

There is one terminal building and this terminal handles around a million passengers per year. In 2008, 978,000 passengers were recorded to have passed through the airport. The airport dates back to before World War One. Once the war was over and commercial flights began, the airline company of Ala Littoria made Brindisi Airport a more popular destination. The airport was also upgraded in the 1960’s, by an extension of the existing runway. Around this time Olympic Airlines started their flights to Corfu. By the 1980’s passenger numbers had increased and it had been modernized to cope with its new traffic. In 2003, just over 700,000 passengers made use. It has also become popular for holidaymakers travelling to and from Greece, and is widely used as a stop over to the Middle East.

Brindisi Airport’s terminal was once again recently improved and their services extended. New buildings were added and were built using triangular portals in tubular steel, therefore incorporating high steel technology in its construction. This type of construction increased climate control and allows for better comfort within the buildings, with a reduction of about 30% of energy requirements. The main aim during the construction was to provide a safe building that was also pleasant and efficient for all occasional and frequent passengers. The car parking areas and roads are also scheduled to be upgraded to improve the flow of traffic, in order to handle the greater number of passengers forecasted to make use of the airport in the next coming years.

There are various facilities, and like all other Italian airports, Brindisi is fully equipped for the comfort of disabled passengers. There are wheelchair ramps and adequate toilet facilities, as well as dedicated parking spaces. Further assistance can be arranged with your airline company. There is an ATM, along with an information point and Lost and Found office. A Web Point is also available, with information regarding transport options, tourist information and economic and cultural characteristics of the area. There are no business services besides the basic telephone and fax machine offered at the service counter. A number of shops and a few restaurants will help the time pass until your departure flight.

The address is Aeroporto Brindisi, I-72011 Papola Casale, Italy, and contact number is +39(0) 831 416511. Their fax number is +39(0) 831416516. The information point for further inquiries can be found in the arrivals area.

Please find below a selection of Airlines, Destination and approx flight times operating from Brindisi Airport.