Flying to Naples This Month? Your Plane Is Landing in Salerno

Naples’ main airport has gone quiet. Capodichino has been closed to all commercial flights since November 1 and is scheduled to stay shut through November 30 while operator GESAC rebuilds its single runway and taxiways, about 250,000 square metres of pavement, and replaces lighting and signalling. Around 500 workers are on site around the clock. The schedule allows 24 working days plus six days set aside for rain, and GESAC’s chief executive has said the airport could reopen early if the weather cooperates. Reopening is currently expected on December 1.

Some flights have simply moved down the coast. Salerno Costa d’Amalfi e del Cilento Airport is handling about 15 destinations this month, roughly a third of Naples’ usual traffic. They include Transavia to Amsterdam and Paris Orly, Vueling to Barcelona, Iberia to Madrid, ITA Airways to Milan Linate, easyJet and Aeroitalia to Milan Malpensa, Ryanair to Bergamo, Eurowings to Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, flydubai daily to Dubai, Air Arabia to Casablanca and Neos to Sharm el-Sheikh. Several of the longer flights use Salerno’s general aviation terminal.

Other carriers have stepped back. Lufthansa Group airlines have cancelled their Naples flights from Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Zurich and are rebooking passengers to Rome Fiumicino, KLM has suspended service and recommends Rome, and Volotea has also paused. ITA’s Rome to Naples flight is being replaced by a bus. From Rome, high-speed trains reach Naples in about 70 minutes. Under EU rules, passengers on cancelled flights are entitled to a refund or rerouting, though the €600 compensation generally does not apply because the closure was announced well in advance.

Getting from Salerno to Naples takes planning. GESAC and Busitalia Campania run a dedicated bus from Piazza Garibaldi, outside Napoli Centrale station, to Salerno airport eight times a day each way, timed to flights, for €12 paid electronically on board. Fixed-fare shared taxis run to the main stations in Naples and Salerno, and existing buses continue to the Amalfi Coast. Anyone booked to or from Naples before December should confirm which airport their airline is actually using and build in extra transfer time.

Sources: PAX News, AeroCorner