The amount of investment that Sacal, the management company of Calabria’s airports, will allocate to the Strait of Reggio Calabria airport will be 64 million euros, continuing the structural modernization already begun a few years ago, with the complete construction of the departures area of the important Reggio Calabria infrastructure.
The press conference comes after the controversy over the airport’s winter programming and the reduction of some connections. According to data illustrated by Vigna, weekly rotations will go from 36 last winter to 43 next season, with around 30 thousand more seats on sale. The 64 million, explained Occhiuto, are resources already available, partly recovered from 2018-2020 European funds that remained unused and traced back to the Institutional Development Contract; the declared objective is to make «Tito Minniti» the reference airport also for Messina, Taormina and the Aeolian Islands, intercepting part of the users who today fly from Catania.
Occhiuto: «A dilapidated structure, now relaunched»
«When in 2021 I came to the airport of Reggio Calabria, immediately after my election as president of the Region – said Roberto Occhiuto in the unusual dual role of governor and speaker of the press conference held in the ‘Giuditta Levato’ room of the Regional Council of Calabria in the presence of many centre-right regional councilors and the city councilors who support Francesco Cannizzaro at Palazzo San Giorgio – I found a dilapidated structure, moribund, practically closed. Instead of resigning ourselves, and without going to Rome with hat in hand but bringing ideas and projects, we managed to revitalize European resources lying around for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020, avoiding their return to Brussels. Resources that those who criticize us today had at their disposal because they led the Region and were in the national government, but which they were unable to use. We, however – underlined Roberto Occhiuto – managed not only to recover them, but to use them by creating the new departures station in eight months of work and starting a virtuous process of relaunching the Reggio airport, strengthening the Calabrian airport system overall”.
Cannizzaro: «We respond to rumors with facts»
The metropolitan mayor Francesco Cannizzaro, in his speech, said that «the objective of maintaining the operation of the Reggio Calabria airport was achieved, despite some saying, with hints of resentment, that ‘fabs would fly’ about the airport, despite the twelve continuous years of government of the city. Instead, we are responding to their chatter with facts, daily and programmatically. There is no question – continued Cannizzaro – that our airport has regained vitality after years of abandonment, helping to attract an ever-increasing number of tourists to Reggio Calabria and we are working to offer them opportunities to extend their stay in our city, while our hypercritics, for twelve years, have never lifted a finger to relaunch it”.
How the funds will be spent
The new president of Sacal, Luciano Vigna, in his technical speech, announced the breakdown of the 64 million investment for the airport: 36 million will be allocated to the expansion of the arrivals terminal and the airport; 2.5 million for the detachment of the Fire Brigade, with the construction of a special barracks, which is currently missing; 3.5 million for the demolition of ruins and dangerous buildings, with redevelopment of the entire area, lying near the airport area; 3.5 million to redevelop the flooring of the movement area; 5 million for the environmental qualification of the sea side area of the runway; 5 million for security and digitalisation of the airport; 7.9 million intended for access roads to the airport and rest areas.
One million passengers and the pier to Messina
During the press conference, again, the president of Sacal, Vigna, said that, despite some connections canceled by the carrier Ryanair, the goal of reaching the objective of one million transit passengers in 2026 “can be achieved”, thanks also to the activation of the daily flight with Bergamo. Among other things, the announcement of the project for the new hydrofoil docking pier, as part of a program agreement with the municipality of Messina and the Peloritan mayor Federico Basile, to allow the rapid movement of users from Messina when crossing the Strait, with the establishment of a check-in dedicated to Sicilian passengers.