The first time I saw an airport op on Ciao I thought it was very strange. Why on earth would anyone review an airport? Some are good, others not so good but they are a necessary evil aren't they? If you want to fly somewhere then you'll be using an airport to leave and another to arrive. I suppose you could pick one airport over another if either are useful to you with your choice of destination but generally we have little choice in the matter.
However when I had cause to use Ronchi dei Legionari airport earlier this year, it dawned on me that an airport review could be very useful and that certain groups of travellers (families, people with mobility problems) might look for particular information about the facilities at an airport before they travel.
I used Ronchi dei Legionari, in north eastItaly, because I was using nearby Trieste as a stepping stone on my way to Ljubljana in neighbouring Slovenia and indeed it is quite a useful airport to use for onward travel to a number of other destinations. The airport is situated 33KM from Trieste and the city can reached easily within around 40 minutes by public transport. There is a bus service that runs roughly every thirty minutes at peak times into the city and terminates at the main bus station which is situated in the centre of town adjoining the train station and right next to the ferry port from where it's a short hop to the Slovenian coast and a couple of hours down to Croatia. Internal buses and trains can be taken to access other Italian cities and towns.
Udine is 40KM away and there is a regular bus service tothis city too. Venice is 130 KM away and the ariport could be useful for anyone with time to spare who is wishing to avoid the more expense fares involved in flying directly to Venice. Klagenfurt
in south east Austriais 200 KM away.
For anyone wishing to visit the Italian Alps, Ronchi dei Legionari would be an ideal airport to use. In fact, if you fly in from British or German airports you will have a spectacular flight over the Alps - I will never forget how breath-taking it was to cruise just above the snowy mountains.
The area in which the airport is situated is known as Friuli-Venezia Giulia and while it is not as well known as, say, Lombardy, Liguria or Tuscany as a region of Italy it has plenty to offer visitors and the scenery is attractive. My bus journey into Trieste was lovely as we followed the Adriatic coastline into the city. The sea shimmered beautifully and we passed romantic castellos overlooking the sea as, now and again, the road cut through the cliffs.
The airport itself is quite small and is essentially a military airport which is developing as a passenger airport. When I arrived there were lots of young Italian soldiers carrying their bergens and loading them onto trucks, apparently having just flown in. At the moment the airport is served by the following airlines - Alitalia, Minerva, Air Dolomiti, Lufthansa, Jat and Ryannair. When my flight touched down on a midweek afternoon there were no other aircraft in the airport. On my return journey around the same time, only one other flight was checking in.
Since it is a very small and quiet airport, you don't have far to walk when you disembark (although passengers with mobility problems can be taken right to the terminal building door by buggy) and you don't have to wait long in baggage reclaim. Another bonus is that, because there are not many arrivals, the local taxi divers arrive in time to pick up potential passengers so you are unlikely to have to wait long for taxis or buses, which are also timetabled according to arrivals.
There is a tourist information desk at the airport and the staff can supply you with free maps of the area and information regarding bus timetables and accomodation. My accommodation was booked but a member of staff kindly marked the hotel's location on a street map of Trieste.
As you come out of the main doors the taxi rank is directly in front of the terminal building and the bus station is off to the left. Each route is clearly marked so you shouldn't have any problems in finding out where your bus departs from. You can buy bus tickets from the machine in the arrivals hall, from the small airport Post Office or in the airport bar which is situated upstairs. Fares are very reasonable and I paid only couple of Euros (single) for the 33KM trip to Trieste.
The buses used are conventional, but very new, comfortable and smart, buses rather than coaches but the driver will put any baggage in the storage areas for you if you wish. These services are not express and do stop to pick up passengers en route so it is advisable to have your luggage stowed incase the bus becomes busy.
The nearest railway station is at Monfalcone and you can get a bus therre to pick up Trenitalia services.
Back at the airport, other facilities and services include a car hire office, a Post Office, a gift shop, a snack/sandwich bar (more about that later!) and a bureau de change. I seem to remember there was also a florists.
It was my return journey which raised a few points that I think potential fliers to this airport should be aware of. When we arrived our flight was checking in. We had arrived just over tow hours before our Ryannair flight was about to leave. Only one other flight was checking in at that time and when we arrived it seemed that most of it's passengers had already checked in. There were two desks open to check in passengers for our flight but it was clear that the flight would be full because, queuing in front of us were three large groups of young people with some older people escorting them. They were the English, Scottish and Irish national youth karate teams who had been in the country for a championship and were all returning on our flight to Stanstead. It seemed to take an eternity to check them all in and, of course, we had picked the wrong queue. The other queue dimished rapidly but, instead of switching, we decided that there was now nothing to be gained in switching because it couldn't be much longer. It was...MUCH longer. The extra time we had allowed for check in and to grb something to eat before departure quickly ticked away. The [roblem was that the man who checked in our queue was painfully slow. People who were travelling togethr were finding that they were not being checked in together and were worried that they might not have consecutive boarding numbers. The lady on the other desk was very efficient and checking in peole so quickly that people who had arrived long after us were making their way for a drink while we still waited. Furthermore, unlike all other airport check in staff i have encountered, this man did not ask any of the usual questions about whetheryou packed the bags yourself or whether anyone could have interefered with your bags. It probably would have taken twice as long if he had!
All of this meant that when we were checked in and made our way to the snack bar, we were once again behind the group of athletes who were taking an eternity to buy sandwiches and soft drinks. Evetnually we were served and I wished we hadn't bothered. My partner's cheese and salad was deemed edible but I had chosen one containing mozzarella and cured Italian ham - the slices of ham were thick and looked delicious ...until I bit into it! The ham was so hard that it ws unchewable - only the sliver of fat along the edge was tender enough to chew and when I tried to bit into the sandwch the slices of mozzarella shot out at speed.
Furthermore only seconds after we had bought the sandwiches (which were overpriced - we paid around 14 Euros for two soft drinks and two sandwiches) there was announcement saying that all passengers for the Stanstead flight should make their way to security. At first we stayed there whilst everyone else rushed off in a stampede thinking that there could not be that much of a hurry but the announcement kept coming time and time again so I gave up the sandwich as a lost cause and we made our way through the security check. After that we went up to the departure lounge, via passport control where a rather dismissive and unpleasnat man refused to stamp my passport when I asked him politely (yes, I'm one of those tragic people who likes their passport stamped so they can proudly display it to one and all when they get home).
When we got to the departure lounge we realised that it was just that - a departure lounge! Nowhere to buy a drink, chocolate or a magazine, nowhere to buy a sandwich if you were delayed and nowhere to smoke! I was devastated! Everyone smokes in Italy! Everyone! (Well that's what I told myself. I am not a really fearful flier but I have convinced myself that I do cope with the nerves about taking off much better if I can have a cigarette before I fly. When I'm in the air I'm fine, I just don't enjoy the feeling of taking off so I was more than a little upset to be denied a cigarette - even more so when the plane still hadn't touched down twenty minutes after it was due to depart. When it did arrive we would have to wait while the plane was quickly cleaned and refuelled as well as the baggage unloaded and ours loaded onto the plane.
I can understand that they would be keen to have everyone ready to depart if the plane was going to be late but most people had never used the airport before and did not know that there would be no further opportunity to buy refreshmants or to smoke.
So, if you are the type of person who thinks they will spend any leftover currency at the airport or who says "We'll just grab something to eat at the airport", if you ever use this airport you can't! Unless of course you arrive at the airport with four hours to spare! I found it amazing that they would be insistent in herding you through the airport in such a hurry in such a small airport. Admittedly, there aren't many shops and much of what there is isn't very good but there did seem to be one shop which looked quite interesting as we passed through security which appeared to be selling silk ties, mens' shirts and stylish accesories for women - all very chic and Italian! I would have liked to have had a look but it was not to be!
Ronchi dei Legionari is not a bad little airport. It's situation means that it is useful for many destinations but it is perhaps one which needs to develop to meet the needs and expectations of today's travellers - especially if it is to expand.
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