History
Verona Villafranca was a military airport during the First World War and opened to civil traffic in the early 1919s with some charter flights to the North of Europe and daily connections to Rome. At the end of the 1970s, thanks to the first community project developed by the Province, the Municipality and the Chamber of Commerce of Verona, Verona-Villafranca became a real air terminal with offices and facilities. The managing society "Aeroporto Valerio Catullo di Verona Villafranca Spa" was then established in December 1978 and was partially owned also by the Municipalities Villafranca and Sommacampagna, by the Provinces of Trentino (second main shareholder), Brescia, South Tyrol and by other local bodies.
In 1990, in order to cope with constantly growing air traffic, the terminal was expanded. The aircraft apron and car parking areas were enlarged, while access was improved by a connection to the new ring roads built for the World Cup.
In 1995 the airport reached the record of one million passengers per annum and only five years later, in 2001, the number of people carried grew to two million. In 2006 three million passengers were handled for the first time in one year.
In response to the constant passenger growth, the Catullo undertook a significant programme to expand its services and facilities for the increasing number of airport users. In May 2006 a new arrivals terminal was opened in the presence of Vice-Minister of Transport Cesare De Piccoli and Vice-President of Veneto Region Luca Zaia, immediately doubling terminal capacity. This enabled more space to be created for departures in the original Catullo building, which was further expanded by 3000 square meters.
Verona airport is equipped with a fog-dispersal device, which is the best solution available in Italy and abroad in order to allow flying operations even in case of low visibility. This sophisticated system (which has been in operation since 2003), allows for ILS Category IIIB operation up to 75 m (246 ft) visibility.
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