Taranto-Grottaglie "Marcello Arlotta" Airport ( it, Aeroporto di Taranto-Grottaglie "Marcello Arlotta") is an airport serving Taranto and

Grottaglie Grottaglie (; scn, label=Salentino, li Vurtàgghie; la, Criptalium) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Taranto, Apulia, in southern Italy. Geography Grottaglie is located in the Salento peninsula, dividing the Adriatic sea from Ionian ...

, both '' comunes'' in the

province of Taranto The province of Taranto ( it, provincia di Taranto; Tarantino: ; Salentino: ), previously known as the province of the Ionian, is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Taranto. It has an area of , and a total popul ...

in Italy. The airport is located from the city of Monteiasi, from Grottaglie and from Taranto. It is named for Marcello Arlotta (1886-1918), an Italian aviator.

Overview

The airport is used for general aviation, with no commercial airline service. As Alenia Aeronautica produces big fuselage parts of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a hangar located beside an airport's apron, multiple times a month, a Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter, also known as ''Dreamlifter'', lands at Taranto Grottaglie to pick up the parts and fly them to the Boeing factory at Paine Field and Boeing South Carolina at

Charleston International Airport Charleston International Airport is a joint civil-military airport located in North Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The airport is operated by the Charleston County Aviation Authority under a joint-use agreement with Joint Base Ch ...

for final assembly. Those flights are operated by Atlas Air. It is also known as Taranto-Grottaglie Airport or Grottaglie Airport. In August 2012, the broker ESAFLY announced that it plans to commence scheduled services from Taranto.

History

In 1923 Grottaglie was a military airfield of

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

During World War II, was a military airfield used by Regia Aeronautica and after by the United States Army Air Forces. The airfield was designed for heavy bomber use, and was a major base for

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

heavy bombers used in the strategic bombardment campaign against Germany. In addition, Twelfth Air Force tactical bombers were stationed at the airfield which were used to support Allied ground forces in the Italian Campaign. Known USAAF units assigned to the airfield were: *

47th Bombardment Group 47th may refer to: Chicago Transit Authority stations * 47th station (CTA Green Line) 47th is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" system, located in the Grand Boulevard community area of Chicago, Illinois and serving the Green ...

, 24 Sep-15 Oct 1943,

A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was or ...

(12 AF) *

321st Bombardment Group The 321st Air Expeditionary Wing was a United States Air Force unit assigned United States Air Forces Central, the USAF component command of United States Central Command. The unit was reestablished on 1 November 2008 and was a nexus of all Coal ...

, 15 Oct-20 Nov 1943,

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

(12 AF) * 5th Reconnaissance Group, (F-5 (P-38) Lightning), November 1943 - 28 December 1944 * 449th Bombardment Group, 4 Jan 1944-16 May 1945,

(15 AF) *

416th Night Fighter Squadron 416th may refer to: * 416th Air Expeditionary Operations Group, provisional unit assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command * 416th Bombardment Wing, inactive United States Air Force unit * 416th Engineer Command (TEC), US Army Re ...

, 30 Sep 1943-28 Jan 1944,

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...

(12 AF) Soon after the airport had been seized by the Allies in September 1943, 205th Battery from

89th (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery The 89th (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised in Kent just before the outbreak of World War II. It served during the Battle of Britain and defended the Su ...

, arrived to protect the USAAF build-up. After the war ended, the airfield was turned over to local authorities, and in 1950 was air base of ''86º Gruppo Antisom'' 8Antisubmarine Warfare Wing) of Italian Air Force In 1979 was a Naval Air Station of

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

Facilities

The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 17/35 with an asphalt surface measuring .

Spaceport

As of July 2018, there is an announcement of operating the aerodrome as a commercial spaceport.

Accidents and incidents

On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, a

Boeing Dreamlifter The Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) is a wide-body cargo aircraft modified extensively from the Boeing 747-400 airliner. With a volume of it can hold three times that of a 747-400F freighter.Hanson, Mary et al"Boeing Selects EGAT f ...

aircraft (registration N718BA) on its way to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, United States as Atlas Air flight 5Y-4231, lost one of its front wheels after take-off from the airport. The wheel crashed near a highway adjacent to the airport. The flight crew decided to continue their flight and landed safely some 11 hours later at their destination.

Statistics

References

External links

Official website
* * {{Authority control Airports in Apulia Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Italy Airports established in 1916 Italian airbases