Alghero-Fertilia Airport

Alghero-Fertilia Airport Aeroporto di Alghero-Fertilia
IATA: AHO ICAO: LIEA
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Sogeaal S.p.a.
Serves	Alghero and Sassari
Location	Fertilia, Italy
Elevation AMSL	87 ft / 27 m
Coordinates	40°37′52″N 08°17′19″E / 40.63111°N 8.28861°E / 40.63111; 8.28861Coordinates: 40°37′52″N 08°17′19″E / 40.63111°N 8.28861°E / 40.63111; 8.28861
Website	www.aeroportodialghero.it/index_en.asp
Map
AHO Location of the airport in Sardinia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 02/20 3,000 9,843 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 1,677,967 Passenger change 14–15 +2.4% Aircraft movements 12,551 Movements change 14–15 -9.1%
Sources: Airport website, Italian AIP at EUROCONTROL Statistics from Assaeroporti

Passengers	1,677,967
Passenger change 14–15	+2.4%
Aircraft movements	12,551
Movements change 14–15	-9.1%

Alghero - Riviera del Corallo Airport (Italian: Aeroporto di Alghero - Riviera del Corallo; Catalan: L'Aeroport de l'Alguer-Fertília) (IATA: AHO, ICAO: LIEA) is an international airport situated 4.3 NM (8.0 km; 4.9 mi) north-northwest of the city of Alghero, in northern Sardinia, Italy. It is also known as Alghero-Fertilia Airport, named for the nearby village of Fertilia or Alghero Airport. It is one of the three main airports serving Sardinia, the other ones being Olbia in the northeast, and near Cagliari in the south. The airport is operated by SO.GE.A.AL (Societa di Gestione Aeroporto di Alghero).

The airport opened in March 1938 as a military airport. During World War II it was equipped with a 700-metre runway. Following the war, the runway was lengthened and improved.

During the early 1960s the civil activities moved on the east side of the property and an old hangar was used as a passenger terminal. In 1971 the first passenger terminal was built. In the middle of the 1970s the runway was lengthened to the current 3000 meters, one of the longest runways in Italy and one of the safest.

In 1980 Alitalia established a flight school at Alghero Airport which trained up to 100 pilots a year, in conjunction with a diversification of activities including air taxi and maintenance services. The school closed in March 2003.

At the end of February 2006 there was a disagreement between the municipalities of Sassari and Alghero concerning the name of the airport (by then called "Alghero-Riviera del Corallo" or "Alghero-Fertilia airport". It was suggested by Sassari administration (capital of province near Alghero) that the name should be changed to "Sassari-Alghero", which was the name used by Alitalia to advertise the first flights to the airport, but actually Alitalia used "Alghero-Sassari".. The discussions came to nothing and the name recognized by Italian (ENAV) and the international aviation authorities, besides the majority of people remains "Alghero-Fertilia", although the intention of the airport management company is to change the name to "Alghero-Riviera del Corallo".