Airport Guide

History of Galileo Galilei Pisa International Airport

After quiet beginnings as a small Tuscan gateway, Pisa International's fortunes turned around when it was bought from the local authorities by private operator SAT in 1980.

While the 1980s and early 1990s saw a steady growth in passenger numbers, it was the low-cost flights revolution of the late 1990s which put Pisa Airport – named in honour of scientist and native of the city Galileo Galilei – on the international aviation map.

Indeed, over 2006 and 2007, the airport was the fastest-growing in the whole of Italy, having benefitted from annual growth of around 25 per cent, and it is now the 11th busiest in the country.

Plans are currently in place to push passenger numbers above the four million mark within the near future.

Travelling to Galileo Galilei Pisa International Airport

Located in the San Guisto neighbourhood, just two miles from Pisa's central train station, the historic city of Pisa can be easily reached by either public or private transport.

Regular shuttle buses run between the terminal buildings and the central station, from where train services run to the rest of Italy.

In particular, frequent trains to the Santa Maria Novella Station in Florence also leave from the station just by the airport, with a significant number of passengers opting to ignore Pisa and head to the bigger Tuscan city straightaway.

Airlines flying from Galileo Galilei Pisa International Airport

At present, more than a dozen airlines fly out of Pisa International, offering both domestic and international services to a variety of destinations across Europe.

Italy's flag carrier Alitalia, through its Alitalia Express subsidiary, operates short-distance flights to the national capital, Rome, as does Air One, while budget airline Windjet flies to the cities of Catania and Palermo, on the island of Sicily.

Other national carriers offering flights to the Tuscan airport include British Airways, Air France, Finnair, Iberia and Lufthansa.

Over the past few years, Galileo Galilei International has been taken over by low-cost airlines from all over the continent, particularly Ryanair.

Currently, the Irish market leader offers cheap flights from Pisa to more than a dozen cities, including Alicante, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Oslo, Paris, Seville and Valencia.

Meanwhile, easyJet offers passengers able to take advantage of e-tickets cheap flights to Berlin, Bristol, London and Paris, while Thomsonfly and Jet2.com operate cheap flights between Italy and the UK and Clickair and SkyEurope fly to Barcelona and Vienna respectively.

Only Delta Airlines offers a long-haul international flight out of Pisa, with its regular services to New York JFK Airport.

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