Trapani–Milo Airport

Trapani–Milo Airport

Trapani–Milo runway relative to the motorway
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type military
Elevation AMSL  ft / 120 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05/23 1,100 Asphalt

Trapani–Milo Airport is a closed airport, which was the first airport to serve the Sicilian city of Trapani, in Italy.

History

The airport was built during the 1930s and became the base of the Italian Regia Aeronautica. After being heavily bombed by Allied forces during the Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) in July 1943, it stayed open until 1949 when the new Trapani–Chinisia Airfield was opened.

Since 1975 the airport is used by the Italian Space Agency as launch site for stratospheric balloons.[1] It was one of the few in the world able to launch balloons across the Mediterranean (to Spain) and across the Atlantic, which was fundamental for astrophysics and astronomy research. The launch base in July 2001 was named after Italian aerospace engineer Luigi Broglio. More recently, it has also been used for the launch of unmanned aircraft. It was closed in 2010.[2]

In 1976 with the construction of the motorway A29 the runway was cut in half and a small road bridge connects the two parts of runway.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Italian Space Agency, Trapani–Milo Launch Base
  2. ↑ Translated from the corresponding Italian Wiki article

Coordinates: 38°00′20″N 12°35′02″E / 38.00556°N 12.58389°E / 38.00556; 12.58389


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