Pisa Airport (PSA)

Pisa Airport is also commonly referred to as Aeroporto Galileo Galilei, named after the famous Italian philosopher and physicist, Galileo Galilei, and is situated only 2 km (1 mile) from the city center of Pisa. It lies within the San Giusto district, and is therefore sometimes called the Pisa-San Giusto as well. It is located in Italy’s Tuscany region, and is a major gateway to this area consisting of approximately 2.5 million inhabitants living within a one-hour distance from the airport, and of course, the famous tourist attraction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (also known locally as the Torre Pendente). This international airport is rated as the 6th most important among the Italian regional airports (not including the Rome and Milan), and 8th amongst all Italian air gateways.

The official code of PSA is assigned along with the ICAO code of LIRP. At the end of 2009, the airport’s statists showed that a total of 4,018 622 passengers had passed through the Pisa Airport during the year, which concluded a 1.4% passenger traffic growth over the previous year. This is considered to be quite an achievement, since there is an average decrease in passenger traffic reported by Italian Airports of 2.3%. Cargo and Mail traffic did not reveal such good statistics, with a drop of 47.6%, and a total of only 6,004 tons in 2009. The reasons determined for these low figures is the halt of the direct Alitalia all-cargo flight for Pisa – New York and the Italian Mail flights. These flights were ceased in January of 2009. In terms of airline activity, destinations grew from 57 in 2008 to 63 in 2009. Fifty-two of these destinations are international, and eleven are domestic. The airport is currently served by various IATA carriers and Low Cost carriers.

Ryanair, EasyJet and Jet2.com are the three airline companies which hold the majority of destinations, with Ryanair’s numbers far outweighing the other two. Ryanair offers flights to Palermo, Brindisi, Bari, Paris-Beauvais, Trapani, Cagliari, Lamezia-Terme, Glasgow-Prestwick, London-Stansted, Malta, Valencia, Stockholm, Gothenburg-City, Hahn, Madrid and Constantia (just to name a few), and EasyJet flies to Lyon, Paris-Orly, Bristol, London-Luton, London-Gatwick and Berlin-Schönefeld. Some of Jet2.com’s destinations include Belfast-International, Edinburgh and Manchester. Other notable airline companies include British Airways, with flights to London-Gatwick and London-Heathrow, Wind Jet with flights to Catania and Palermo, Transvania.com with flights to Amsterdam, Alitalia, flying to Rome-Fiumicino, and Belle Air with flights to Tirana.

Pisa airport consists of one large terminal building, serving all international and domestic flights, and two runways. The runway system is designed to handle almost all of today’s aircraft types, and is the best runway facilities after Rome Fiumicino. In fact, many airline companies choose this airport as an alternative should Fiumicino be unavailable. The main runway is 3,000 meters long, while the second runway is 2,800 meters long, and both can be used for landings, take-offs and taxiing. There are also 21 available aircraft stands for passenger flights. The terminal building has a total of 33 Check-in desks and 14 Gates.

Within the terminal building there are all the amenities required by departing and arriving passengers. Business class passengers may use the VIP Lounge, as well as holders of a Galilei Gold Card. The VIP Lounge offers a relaxing environment, refreshments, internet connections, TV and a variety of newspapers. It can be found on the first floor of the terminal, and is open from 06:00 to 22:00. The Galilei Gold Card offers many benefits for companies who frequently make use of the airport, including free admission to the multi-level car park and a 25% reduction in rates for the Business Center. The Galilei Business Center is equipped with a hall for meetings, conventions and seminars, and two smaller rooms for more private functions. The main hall area, known as the Etruria Hall, has a seating capacity of 50, and has equipment available such as microphones, a slide projector, screen and overhead projector. The Populonia Hall is one of the smaller meeting rooms seating up to ten people, and the Volterra Hall is the other smaller room seating up to eight people.

Pisa Airport offers full banking services by the Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa, located on the first floor of the terminal, and more casual banking transactions can be made from the ATMs, located on the first floor, in the Arrivals Terminal and at the car rental terminal. Other amenities include a Post Office, beauty center and hairdresser, baby room and chapel, as well as many interesting shopping opportunities and refreshment outlets. Most of the shopping outlets are found within the ‘La Corte’ shopping center, consisting of about fifteen stores. Even one of the best Italian ballet schools have their studio, the Scuola di Danza “E.Ghezzi”, offering ballet, modern, jazz and contemporary dance classes. Passengers can also connect to the web from Devitalia’s Internet Point, available on the first floor.

Disabled passengers are welcomed. There are dedicated facilities for disabled passengers, as well as for passengers with reduced mobility. Some of the facilities include reserved parking spaces located nearby the terminal, adapted toilet facilities, handrails and elevators, and wheelchairs to assist with movement within the terminal can be requested.

The Information Office can be found in the Arrivals Terminal. Passengers can make enquiries here for information on arrivals and departures, or any service offered. They are open from 07:00 to 23:00. This office also provides tourist information, issues flight insurance policies, sells telephone cards, bus tickets and train tickets, and functions as a left luggage office. Further information on tourism can be obtained from Pisa Airport Tourist Information Desk located just outside the Arrivals hall. This desk is operated by the Pisa Tourist Board (APT), and provides information for the Pisa and Tuscany areas. This office is open from 09:30 to 23:30, every day of the week, and their website address is www.pisaunicaterra.it.