Volume

Fact Box: Palermo–Falcone Borsellino Airport (PMO)

Country ranking: The sixth busiest airport in Italy in 2021 Passenger total in 2019: 7.01 million Passenger traffic 2021: 4.5 million Expected passenger traffic 2022: 5.8 million

What impact have the low-cost carriers had on your airport? They have transformed air travel to Palermo by dramatically improving our connectivity in the five years before the global pandemic. In 2019, the market share of the LCCs exceeded 70% of our total traffic and we expect this to continue for the foreseeable future.

Do you think that local and national governments appreciate this importance and, in general, are supportive of your airport and aviation? We believe that here in Palermo there is quite a good appreciation from government about the vital role PMO plays for Palermo, the surrounding region and the whole of Sicily.

Traditionally, what are the biggest opportunities/ challenges you face as an airport? These are probably no different to any other airport our size, but what I will say is that during the global pandemic the most challenging area was funding our masterplan for PMO, given our decision not to interrupt any of the developments already planned before the COVID outbreak.

Does the airport traditionally make a profit? We have regularly been profitable since 2015, although not during the pandemic, of course! Aviation related activity currently provides 80% of our income and non-aeronautical revenues for 20%. Non-aero related sources of revenue include our retail/F&B offerings and office rental, although car rental operations provide the airport with the biggest source of income from non-aviation related activities.

What are you doing to boost your non-aeronautical revenues and is this task more difficult for you because of the airport’s size? We are developing a new commercial plan that will create a number of new retail/F&B areas as the current offerings are not adequate in terms of space and capacity to meet demand given the upward traffic development of recent years.

Do you think Europe’s bigger hub airports face the same challenges? In regards to the global pandemic, I believe that bigger airports are probably having an even tougher time than us in terms of the financial and funding challenges, although they are in a better position to attract good staff and develop their route networks when the market picks up.

Why is it important that smaller, regional airports survive and prosper across the world? Because each serves a local community that might otherwise have no air links at all. Regional airports can provide great development opportunities to local communities by offering direct, point-to-point connections to destinations that are not usually served from main hubs. Tourism and the local economy are more competitive if they are better (and faster) connected with the world.

How do you plan to develop your airport over the next five to ten years? We have many plans to develop the airport which include proposals to invest more than €70 million by 2033 on increasing the capacity of PMO and, just as importantly, our revenues from non-aeronautical services.