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

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

serving

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important comme ...

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 Ioni ...

, both ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

s'' 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 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The airport is located from the city of

Monteiasi Monteiasi (Tarantino: ; Brindisino: ; locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Taranto province in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Monteiasi was historically an Arbëreshë settlement. After the inhabitants abandoned the Albanian Greek Or ...

, from Grottaglie and from Taranto. It is named for Marcello Arlotta (1886-1918), an Italian aviator.

Overview

The airport is used for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, with no commercial airline service. As

Alenia Aeronautica Alenia Aeronautica was an Italian aerospace company. Its subsidiaries included Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronavali. Alenia Aeronautica was also the part-owner of ATR, a joint venture with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). ...

produces big fuselage parts of the

Boeing 787 Dreamliner The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American Wide-body aircraft, wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Boeing Sonic Cruiser, Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced th ...

in a hangar located beside an airport's apron, multiple times a month, a

Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter 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 ...

, also known as ''Dreamlifter'', lands at Taranto Grottaglie to pick up the parts and fly them to the

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

factory at

Paine Field Paine Field , also known as Snohomish County Airport, is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in unincorporated Snohomish County, Washington, between th ...

and

Boeing South Carolina Boeing South Carolina is an airplane assembly facility built by Boeing in North Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Located on the grounds of the joint-use Charleston Air Force Base and Charleston International Airport, the site is the fi ...

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 Atlas Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, is a major American cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in Purchase, New York. Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of the Boei ...

. 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 aboli ...

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, was a military airfield used by Regia Aeronautica and after by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. 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 ...

heavy bombers used in the strategic bombardment campaign against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. In addition,

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to ...

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 o ...

(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 Res ...

, 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, 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 , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

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 The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

designated 17/35 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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