Trapani Airport (TPS)

Trapani Airport is a military airport open to civilian flights, and is located in the Sicilian region of Italy. The airport is operated by the company Airgest S.P.A, and is the third busiest one for the region, currently with over 1.5 million passengers per annum. It serves the city of Trapani, as well as other towns in Sicily, and is considered an important gateway for the western portion of the island. Another name commonly used is the Birgi Airport, as it is closely located to the area of Birgi, and the civilian part of the premises are named after Vicenzo Florio, a Sicilian wine industrialist and auto enthusiast. The airport is distinguished by it’s IATA code of TPS, and it’s ICAO code is listed as LICT.

Trapani was not always seen as such a successful civilian air transport facility, as it was only in more recent years that traffic numbers started to significantly increase. The history of the airport began in the early 1960’s, when a few flights to Palermo, Pantelleria and Tunisia were operated. In 1964, flights to Rome and Naples were also offered. It was then just a small regional airport. In the 1990’s, it only operated flights to the island of Pantelleria, and it’s future in commercial traffic was not very promising. However, during the years of virtual commercial inactivity, it did become an important military air base, due to it’s strategic geographical location. The airport was established as a base for the ‘37th stormo’ of the AMI.

In the twenty-first century, Trapani Airport finally became a passenger destination of note. New routes were established by the airline company of Air One in 2003, to Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Milan and Rome. At the end of 2003, the airport had handled a total of 246,474 passengers, which was a great improvement when compared to the previous year, of just 49,932 passengers. The following year was even more successful, with just over 400,000 passengers. Ryanair, another very popular low-cost airline carrier, started flights from Trapani in September 2006, to Pisa, and in 2007, introduced international flights to Barcelona, Girona and Dublin. In 2007, the airport handled over 500,000 passengers for the first time, and 2008 saw an increase of approximately 30,000 passengers. In 2009, with a five year business deal, Ryanair decided to use the location as their hub to Sicily, and introduced flights to many more destinations. This year saw a record number of passengers, breaking the important 1 million mark, and increasing traffic by over 100%. 2010 held the greatest number of passengers in the history, as it closed with 1,682,991 passengers.

Today, flights are available from Ryanair to a large number of destinations, including Ancona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Bologna, Cagliari, Brussels-Charleroi, Cuneo, Genoa, Gothenburg-City, Hahn, Ibiza, the London-Luton, Madrid, Malta, Parma, Perugia, Rhodes, the Rome-Ciampino, Stockholm-Skavsta, Trieste, Valencia, Venice-Treviso and Weeze. There are also new flights to Budapest starting in April 2012. Air One currently serves the destination of Milan-Malpensa, and the third airline company at Trapani is Meridiana Fly, with flights to Pantelleria.

Trapani Airport is approximately 15km, or 9.2 miles south of Trapani, the capital city of the Province of Trapani, and 16km north of Marsala. Areas further south include Petrosino, Mazara del Vallo and Castelvetrano, whilst Agrigento is found mid-way along the southern coastline of Sicily. North of Trapani is Paceco, Trapani, Erice, Custonaci and San Vito Lo Capo, whilst to the north-east is the regional capital city of Palermo. Areas east of the airport include Calatafimi-Segesta, Alcamo and Salemi, whilst on the western side, is the Mediterranean Sea and a number of small islands. Other important cities in Sicily include Syracuse, Catania and Messina, from where the Strait of Messina can be crossed by ferry to reach mainland Italy. The main roads leading to the airport are the SP21 and the SS115 from the north and south, and the A29 from Palermo.

For the transport of passengers, buses and taxis are available, but there is no train station on the airport grounds. Terravision runs a coach service from the city of Palermo, and AST buses are frequently available from the port of Trapani. Other areas may also be served by additional bus companies. There is a taxi rank on site, and taxis are available from all nearby locations.

The airport covers a total area of 123 hectares, and has one runway, adequate in length to serve medium to large sized aircraft. It is 2,695 metres long and 45 metres wide, and is of a Bitumen surface. The single terminal building for passengers is open twenty-four hours a day, and was renovated and expanded in 2009. The departure facilities are now handled from the first floor, and here there is also an 800 square metre area for retail stores and food and beverage outlets, and the arrival hall is found on the ground floor. The expansion plans also included further parking spaces for private vehicles and a new parking lot for the vehicles of car hire companies. There are now approximately 50 spaces in the short-term parking area, 658 spaces in the long-term parking lot and double the number of reserved spaces for disabled passengers.

Trapani Airport facilities include shops and restaurants (a restaurant is located on the ground floor and is known as ‘My Chef’), cash machines, information counters for general enquire and tourism, lost baggage services, baby-changing facilities, car hire companies and counters for the sale of airline tickets and bus tickets. The entire building is accessible to disabled passengers.

Further details regarding Trapani Airport information can be obtained from personnel, at the contact number of +39 0 9238402.

The official code of TPS is assigned to Trapani Airport. The airport is locally known by is Birgi. Please find below GPS coordinates which may help you in your arrival or departure. The Coordinates are 38.01667, 12.48333 which you can enter into your Smartphone or in-car GPS.

Find below a choice of Airlines, destination and flight times from Trapani.