Florence Airport (FLR), Aeroporto di Firenze-Peretola, bears the name of the famous compatriot, traveler and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. The airport terminal is located on the northwestern outskirts of the capital of the Italian region of Tuscany, the city of Florence, at a distance of 4 km from it. It is the second busiest air gateway in the area after Pisa International Airport.
History of emergence and development
Florence's first air station was established in the Campo di Marte area in 1910. Then the military authorities allowed the use of the field for "experiments in air navigation." So, the first airport in Florence is Campo di Marte. He remained the only one for many years. However, as the city expanded, residential buildings grew around the air gate, and the capacity of the station was no longer enough to serve the next generation of aircraft.
In 1928, on the plain between Florence and Sesto Fiorentino, a place was chosen where construction began. Already in 1938–1939gg. an asph alt runway 60 meters wide and 1000 meters long was laid out. In the 1940s, Florence's new airport - Peretola - welcomed the first passenger flights. Two decades later, Alitalia allocated 2 regular routes for the air terminal: Rome-Florence-Venice and Rome-Florence-Milan.
In the early 1980s, the reconstruction of airport facilities began. In 1984, the management company AdF completed construction work, extending the glide path to 1400 meters and lighting it. The latest navigation system was installed, and the airport terminal was restored. In September 1986, regular flights resumed. Since then, the number of aircraft and passengers has been constantly increasing.
New time
In 1990, the airport was renamed in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian merchant and cartographer. In 1994, a parking lot was opened at the entrance to Florence Airport. In 1996, the runway was extended by another 250 meters, and the AdF is funding further expansion of the departure area. To date, the new terminal has 15 check-in counters and covers a total of 1200 square meters, 770 of which are for public use.
Since 2012, the airport has been connected by regular flights to the largest cities in Europe. Among them are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Bucharest, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Madrid, Munich, Paris and Vienna. The airportFlorence also operates numerous domestic flights to different destinations in the country.
Transfer
The airport terminal is connected to the city by the ABusitalia SITA Nord shuttle bus lines, which go along the highway (A1 and A11) to the Santa Maria Novella (SMN) central railway station. The bus fare is 6 EUR one way. Round trip - 10 euros. You can buy a ticket for only 1 direction directly from the driver. Double tickets are also sold at the bus station, nearby newsstands or cafes.
The journey takes about 20 minutes, sometimes a little more if the traffic is congested. Flights depart every half an hour from 05:30 to 20:30, including holidays and weekends. After 20:30, the traffic interval is 1 time per hour until 23:45. The last transfer to Florence Airport leaves at 1 am. How to get to the city after midnight or if you don't want to take the bus?
The best option under this set of circumstances is to use the services of taxi drivers. Finding them near the terminal is not difficult. They are also available in the center of Florence. The distance in time takes approximately 15 minutes. Flat rate tariffs start from 20€. At night and on holidays, a trip to Florence airport will cost you a little more.
How to get to the airport terminal on your own? If the traveler is by car, then from the city centeryou must enter the road leading to Via della Scala. At the junction with Via Francesco Baracca, take a gentle right onto Viale L. Gori, which leads directly to the airport terminal.
