The "Il Caravaggio" International Airport of Bergamo Orio al Serio is, together with Linate and Malpensa, one of the 3 Lombardi airports serving the city of Milan. It is considered the third Italian airport - after Fiumicino and Malpensa - per number of passengers in transit. In 2017, the Orio al Serio airport received about 12,500,000 passengers, recording a significant increase compared to the previous year. Bergamo airport has a single Terminal and a single landing / take-off runway unlike Linate and Malpensa which both have 2.
HISTORY: Like most of the main Italian airports, Orio al Serio was created as a military airport in 1937 and, during the war period, was subjected to extensions and improvements. It will be necessary to wait until the end of the 1960s, to see the proposals to convert it into a civilian airport materialize. In 1972 the first civil flight departing from Bergamo Airport took off on route to Rome Ciampino.
Currently Orio al Serio hosts mainly low-cost companies, it is these companies that have given the main impetus to the growth of the last years starting from 2003 when, RyanAir, chose Orio as a stopover.
LOCATION & CONNECTIONS: Located about 50km from the center of the Lombard capital and about 5km from the Bergamo historic center, the airport is conveniently connected with the center of Milan via train, taxi or bus. Regarding the cost of taxis, this depends on who operates the service. Using radio taxi in Bergamo (www.radiotaxibergamo.it) the cost of a ride to central Milan is around € 110- € 120 and the minimum travel time is 45 minutes (but it can increase a lot if you travel during the peak hours). In the case of the train there is no direct connection between Milan and Orio al Serio Airport so, if you choose this mode of transport, you will have to buy a ticket to the Bergamo station and - subsequently - take a public bus to the airport. In this case the duration of the trip is about 60 minutes, excluding waiting times for public transport. The bus from/to Orio al Serio to Milano Centrale leaves every 20/30 minutes and the journey time is about 55 minutes. The price of a one-way ticket is €8.
from Orio al Serio to Malpensa: The fastest connection between Orio al Serio and Malpensa is guaranteed by the taxi service, also in this case the cost varies according to the company that operates the cab ride, but the price is around € 170 ( about 75 minutes depending on the traffic you have). Alternatively, there are bus connections that take about 1 hour and 45 minutes and provide an intermediate stop. The price of a one-way ticket is € 16.
SECURITY CONTROLS: As in most international airports, all passengers must undergo security checks after the check-in process and before entering the boarding area. During busy periods, passport control and baggage X-ray scanning of luggage can cause significant delays and long waiting times. The latter can be avoided by paying a surcharge of between 6€ for a service called "Fast Track", which can be booked on the Official website of the Orio al Serio airport (www.milanbergamoairport.it) . We therefore recommend passengers to be at the boarding gates at least 1 hour before the flight boarding commencement. Most airlines flying from/to Orio al Serio allow passengers to carry a single cabin baggage plus a bag containing all purchases made within the duty free area of the airport. This policy, as well as the size of carry-on baggage, may differ from one airline to another, so we suggest consulting with your carrier (for example, Ryanair has set a 10 kg weight limit and 55 cm x 40cm x 20cm size limit for hand luggage). It is important to remember that passengers departing from Italian airports can only carry a limited amount of liquids (a maximum of 10, 100 ml containers) in their carry-on luggage, whether this is drinks, perfumes, cosmetics. This restriction also applies to gels and pastes. Containers with liquids must be transported separately, inside a transparent, sealed, airtight bag of a size not exceeding 1 litre. The only exceptions allowed are medication (if accompanied by relevant prescription), antiallergic foods (only the amount absolutely necessary for the trip), baby milk (0-36 months) or liquids bought in the duty-free zone after passing through the security controls.
FLIGHT DURATION:
Orio al Serio-London: 2h 10min
Orio al Serio-Moscow: 3h 15min
Orio al Serio-Athens: 2h 25min
Orio al Serio-Madrid: 2h 25min
Orio al Serio-Istanbul: 2h 50min
Orio al Serio-Eindhoven: 1h 40min
In case of flight delay, tickets are valid for the following buses.
