Naples Capodichino airport to close for November runway rebuild

The closure

Naples Capodichino airport will stop handling air traffic for the whole of November, from Sunday 1 November to Monday 30 November 2026. The operator Gesac says the runway and taxiways need extensive redevelopment to keep the airport safe, reliable and running over the long term. The project is valued at 30 million euros, and Gesac calls the works radical while stressing that they follow strict sector rules. The previous intervention on the airfield dates to 2005. November is the least busy month of the year for air traffic, which is why the closure was timed for it.

Work on the runway

ADR Infrastrutture won the tender for the job and will carry out the works around the clock, seven days a week, for the whole closure, according to AGI. About 500 people will work across 250,000 square metres. Crews will remove the existing surface layers and rebuild the runway structure with new materials, including special high-performance bitumen, to improve resistance and durability. Part of the demolition material will be reused as noise barriers around the work areas. The visual aids that guide aircraft in low visibility, meaning the runway and taxiway lighting and signalling, will also be replaced. The taxiways and load-bearing surfaces are being adapted so that Code E aircraft, such as Boeing and Airbus types, can use the airfield.

Gesac frames the work as part of a wider plan to modernise the airport.

“It is a necessary step in the reorganisation and upgrading of the airport's production structure.”

Flights and transfers

Some flights will move to Salerno Costa d'Amalfi e del Cilento airport, where 15 destinations are planned during the closure: six domestic (Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate, Genoa, Turin and Trieste) and nine international (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Casablanca, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Madrid, Paris, Sharm el-Sheikh and Stuttgart). Eurowings links to Düsseldorf and Stuttgart are among those moving. Lufthansa informed travellers in the summer that it would suspend its Naples flights in November and rebook passengers onto alternative flights to and from Rome where possible. Busitalia Campania, working with Gesac, will run a shuttle between Naples Piazza Garibaldi and Salerno with eight daily departures in each direction, timed to match flights. The fare is 12 euros per passenger per leg, paid on board by electronic payment. Airlines decide which flights they replace, since they cut winter operations and carry out maintenance in these months.

Domestic6

International9

Domestic

6 destinations

International

9 destinations

Data from the article text

Outlook for the airport

Gesac's masterplan foresees traffic growing sustainably from 13 million passengers a year now to 17.3 million in 2035. That growth has to come without extra operating hours, because the airport sits inside the city. The plan also includes redevelopment of a wide area around the airport. The closure is therefore presented as part of a longer modernisation programme rather than a stand-alone repair. Commercial flights stop on 1 November, and the runway works start the same day.

Current annual13

2035 masterplan17.3

Current annual

13 million passengers

2035 masterplan

17.3 million passengers

Data from the article text