Bologna, 29 December 2025 – Eleven million passengers in one year. Marconi airport beats itself and records its new attendance record in the city airport. To celebrate this milestone, at arrivals this morning at Bologna Airport awarded the lucky “eleven millionth” passenger. Celebrating Agatino Puglisi and Alessandra Garufi, residents of Modena and arriving from Catania, are the CEO of AdB Nazareno Ventola and the business aviation director of AdB Antonello Bonolis, in the presence of representatives of the State and Airport Bodies. “It was a nice surprise, we didn’t expect it,” said the winners. Shopping vouchers for “number 11 million” passengers to be used in airport sales points. “This – commented Ventola – is a great result, not to be taken for granted, for Bologna airport, for our company, for the entire airport community and the territory. We are closing the year on a high note. In fact, we must not forget that if the airport grows, its entire catchment area develops”. Currently “ADB employs over 21 thousand people including direct, indirect and induced workers, and produces a GDP of around 1 billion euros per year in the area”, continues Ventola, thanking “all the workers of the entire airport community, who have allowed us to reach this new goal”.
The next goals
A “historical” and “psychological” threshold. The next step is that of 12 million passengers, a goal set by Adb as an objective to be exceeded by 2030. “We will probably be able to overcome this goal of ours sooner”, says Ventola. But “our limit is air movements. That limit is 91 thousand, but here we are still well below the threshold. We still have room for growth”, states Ventola again. “We are very satisfied – added Bonolis – with the result achieved today, which rewards our commitment to guaranteeing strong connectivity of Bologna and the entire catchment area with the world”. With over 100 destinations served directly and 50 airlines presentthe city airport is “one of the most dynamic and attractive realities in the sector, thanks also to a balanced mix between national and international connections, “traditional” companies and low cost flights”, says Bonolis. In 2024 ADB reached 10,764,687 passengers. Today for the first time in its history the Marconi “rises” to eleven million. An increase compared to the previous year estimated at 3.3%. The previous record of 1988 was beaten, when annual passengers were 10.8 million. From the first commercial flight on 4 September 1933, to the “first million” in 1988. Then the two million in 1995, three in 1999, four in 2006, five in 2010, six in 2013, seven in 2016, eight in 2017, nine in 2019 and ten in 2024. Overall, from ’33 to today, the Marconi has carried over 160 million passengers.
Data for November 2025
In the month of November alone, the passengers of the Marconi there were 775,427, with an increase of 9.4% on the same month of 2024. In detail, passengers on international flights were 598,670 (+10.7% on November 2024) while passengers on national flights were 176,757 (+5.1% on the same month of 2024). Movements were 5,520 (+5.7%), while goods transported by air were 3,683 tonnes, with a reduction of 1.0%. Favorite destinations of November 2025 they were, in order: Catania, Tirana, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Istanbul, Palermo, London Heathrow, Bucharest Otopeni and Amsterdam. The busiest day of the month was Monday 3 November, with 34,565 passengers between arrivals and departures. Goods transported by air in the first 11 months of 2025 were 40,492 tonnes (-3.3%).
The wild stop
Goodbye to the audio cars parked on the sides of the roundabout and in double or triple rows. By summer 2026 ADB will install new cameras “against wild parking”. The measure follows the agreement between the Municipality, Marconi and Enac, which will lead to the establishment of a Controlled Traffic Zone (ZTC) for access to the airport, “contributing to the regularization of traffic and the improvement of service for users”. “Extra help to improve a situation a bit chaotic today. The proceeds from the fines will benefit the Municipality”, explains Ventola.
The works
Interventions worth over 50 million euros have been approved, progressively improving the customer experience, comfort and commercial offering. And preparatory work is underway for the expansion of Bologna airport, a significant project which aims to transform part of the operational area of the airport. The intervention will involve an area of 20 thousand square meters, equivalent to approximately three football fields. New paving and underground infrastructure will be built by 2027 to redesign aprons, aircraft routes and new security systems and cameras with advanced technologies.
From October 20thFurthermore, the new digital passenger entry and exit system is in force: the Entry/Exit System (EES), established by the European Union. This is a new entry/exit system, which digitally records entries and exits from the Schengen area. For now it is still in the testing phase, but data collection will be operational by April 10th.
La council tax
In Emilia-Romagna the council tax will be abolished starting next year for the airports of Forlì, Parma and Rimini which record traffic of less than 700 thousand passengers per year. The government, in the budget law being approved in recent days, he has included the amendment that allows Viale Aldo Moro to eliminate the tax for the three Emilia-Romagna airports. The request was made by President Michele de Pascale and is part of the Region’s strategy for the relaunch of the four airports. For Bologna, however, everything remains as before: the companies will therefore pay 6.50 euros per passenger. “It is objectively a distortion of the market – underlines Ventola -. Should there be negative impacts on Bologna airport there will also be negative impacts on employment and the territory. Imagining transferring traffic without impact on staff is an illusion. We will understand in the coming months”.
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