Palermo International Airport
Encyclopedia
The Company
GESAP S.p.a. is the airport management company of "Falcone e Borsellino" Airport in PalermoPalermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
. It has a fully paid-up share capital of € 15,912,332.00 divided between the Regional Province of Palermo
Province of Palermo
The Province of Palermo is a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. The Province of Palermo has 82 comuni , 1,239,272 inhabitants, and is 4,992 km² .-External links:...
, the Comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, the Chamber of Commerce, the Comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Cinisi
Cinisi
Cinisi is a town and a comune in the province of Palermo in Sicily. As of 2007 it had an estimated population of 12,100.-Geography:The town is part of the Palermo metropolitan area, borders with the municipalities of Carini and Terrasini and count the civil parish of Punta Raisi, seat of Palermo...
and other minor partners.
Established in 1985, until 1994 GESAP operated exclusively as handler and supplier of ground services for Palermo airport, the management of which is directly assigned by the government and overseen by the District Airport Directorate.
In 1994, GESAP was charged with the partial management of the airport through a Convention which granted the company a 20-year mandate to run land side activities (the airport buildings and surrounding areas).
In April 1999, GESAP obtained an anticipated mandate to manage the airport's air side activities, and, more specifically, the flight infrastructures (runways, links, taxiways and aprons) as foreseen by art. 17 L. 135/97.
As airport management company, GESAP plans, creates and manages the airport's areas, infrastructures and systems, ensuring the necessary maintenance and implementation of the same. It also provides centralised services such as airport coordination, public information systems, security controls and surveillance as well as managing commercial outlets through concessions to third parties.
In April 2004, GESAP was awarded UNI ISO 9001/2000 (Vision 2000) certification. The company had already received certification for its services and processes in the handling sector and this too was renewed by the certification body, TÜV
Tuv
Tuv may refer to the following geographical locations:*Töv Province in Mongolia*Tuv in Hemsedal municipality, Buskerud, Norway*Tuv in Bodø municipality, Nordland, NorwayTUV may also refer to the following:*Tuvalu, a Pacific Island nation...
, in December 2006.
On 30 May 2004, ENAC awarded GESAP an "Airport Certificate" in recognition of the airport's full conformity with the regulations set down in ENAC's "Regulations for the construction and management of airports". On May 24, 2007 GESAP has obtained the renovation of "Airport Certificate" until May 30, 2010.
Today, after having recently transferred its handling sector to a controlled company, GH Palermo, GESAP is awaiting a ministerial decree that will grant it a forty-year concession for the total management of the airport. This comes after the deliberation of ENAC's Board of Directors on March 1, 2005 that was officialised in a Convention signed on November 17, 2006.
Accidents and incidents
- On 5 May 1972, Alitalia Flight 112Alitalia Flight 112Alitalia Flight 112 was a scheduled flight from Leonardo da Vinci Airport, in Rome, Italy, to Palermo International Airport in Palermo, Italy, with 115 on board. On 5 May 1972, it crashed into Mount Longa, about 5 km south-west of Palermo while on approach...
- On 23 December 1978, Alitalia Flight 4128Alitalia Flight 4128Alitalia Flight 4128 was a scheduled flight from Leonardo da Vinci Airport, in Rome, Italy, to Palermo International Airport in Palermo, Italy, with 129 on board. On December 23, 1978, it crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea about 3 km north of Palermo while on approach...
- On 24 September 2010, Wind Jet Flight 243, operated by Airbus A319-132 EI-EDM, landed short of the runway after encountering a thunderstormThunderstormA thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
and windshearWindShearThe Windshear Full Scale Rolling Road Wind Tunnel is an automotive wind tunnel in Concord, North Carolina.In January 2008 Wind Shear, a division of US machine tool builder Haas Automat-80.7ion, completed construction on one of the most advanced automotive wind tunnels in the world. The full-scale...
on approach. The aircraft was substantially damaged when it impacted the localiser. Both main undercarriage sets collapsed and the aircraft was evacuated by the emergency slides. Around 20 passengers were injured in the evacuation.
Rail
The airport's rail facility, Punta Raisi railway stationPunta Raisi railway station
Punta Raisi railway station , is located within Palermo Airport in Cinisi, near Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Opened in 2004, the station is the northwestern terminus of the Palermo Passante railway, and forms part of the Palermo Metro....
, is the northwestern terminus of Palermo Metro Line A. It links the airport with Palermo Centrale railway station
Palermo Centrale railway station
Palermo Centrale is the main railway station of the Italian city of Palermo, capital of Sicily. It is one of the most important "FS" stations of Italy. Along with Catania Centrale, Messina Centrale and Syracuse it is one of the most important stations of its region...
. A typical timetable on work days is a train every 30 minutes in each direction between early morning and around 10 pm.
See also
- Catania Fontanarossa Airport Vincenzo BelliniCatania-Fontanarossa Airport-See also:*Palermo Airport Falcone e Borsellino - also known as Punta Raisi Airport, another of Sicily's international airports* Trapani Birgi Airport Vincenzo Florio - another of Sicily's international airports...
– Sicily's major international airport. - Trapani Birgi Airport Vincenzo Florio – another of Sicily's international airports
- Comiso Airport V. MaglioccoComiso AirportComiso Airport , also known as Vincenzo Magliocco Airport is located in the Sicilian province of Ragusa, 5 km from Comiso and 15 km from Ragusa. It changed from military to civil use during 2005-2008...
– currently under construction, it will be another of Sicily's international airports
External links
- Palermo Airport, official site
- Palermo Airport Information, palermo-airport.com