• Gabriele d’Annunzio Airport in Brescia-Montichiari is strengthening its cargo capacity with a new logistics warehouse, which has now entered service.
• It size is equivalent to 16 tennis courts, an area that could in theory hold two Boeing 737-800s. Its pitched roof encloses a volume of around 67,000 cubic metres, equivalent to 1,500 containers of 40 cubic metres each.
• Its main use will be for Amazon, which has operated at the airport since September with four daily flights, six days a week.

Gabriele d’Annunzio Airport in Brescia-Montichiari is strengthening its cargo capacity with a new logistics warehouse, which has now entered service.

The steel-frame building covers 4,300 sq m. That is equivalent to 16 tennis courts, an area that could in theory hold two Boeing 737-800s. Its pitched roof encloses a volume of around 67,000 cubic metres, equivalent to 1,500 containers of 40 cubic metres each.

The opening was attended by the President of the SAVE Group, Enrico Marchi, together with the senior management of SAVE and Catullo; the Extraordinary Commissioner of ENAC (Italy’s Civil Aviation Authority), Carlo Mearelli; Lombardy Region councillors Guido Guidesi (Economic Development) and Debora Massari (Tourism, Territorial Marketing and Fashion); and the Mayor of Montichiari, Marco Togni, who is also the Province of Brescia councillor responsible for airport development and the Area Plan.

According to the airport, the new warehouse can support air operations and the sorting of thousands of parcels a day. It is intended mainly for Amazon, which has operated at Montichiari since September with four daily flights, six days a week, linking the airport to its air logistics hubs in Europe.

The facility adds to the warehouses already in use at the airport for Poste Italiane (for which Montichiari is the main operational hub), DHL and non-European cargo flights. In total this covers  20,000 sq m of space..

The total investment was €10 million. This comes on top of the €20 million invested since 2015 in infrastructure and operational equipment while the airport waited for its Master Plan approval process to be completed. The Master Plan provides for total investment of €100 million.

Montichiari sits at the centre of an industrial area that generates more than 50 percent of Italy’s exports, and it is served by five motorways, including the new ‘BreBeMi’.

‘These features make it a leading cargo airport for the region and for the whole country. They also put it in a position to capture domestic air cargo flows that are still trucked to airports in Northern Europe. Montichiari’s strengths include round-the-clock (24-hour) operations, including a customs service that works every day of the week, and advanced equipment that allows it to offer customers tailor-made solutions,’ Gabriele d’Annunzio Airport stated.

For its Amazon operations specifically, Montichiari has installed new systems and equipment, including X-ray screening machines, castor decks (platforms with omnidirectional wheels for moving loads), cargo loaders and new truck loading and unloading bays.

The airport’s traffic volumes are also growing considerably, and a significant increase in tonnes of cargo handled is expected for the end of 2026 compared with the previous year. This growth is matched by a rise in staff numbers: since September, around 200 direct and indirect workers have been added.

“Brescia Airport is progressively realising its potential as a cargo-specialised airport within the group of airports managed by our Group. Today’s opening marks another important milestone on this path, which pairs the growth in traffic and cargo volumes with matching infrastructure upgrades. This is our way of working, based on careful planning, and once again it meant we were ready to welcome a new international player such as Amazon. We will continue with this approach, delivering what is set out in the Master Plan approved last year, so that Montichiari grows in its role as a reference point for freight transport in Italy and in Europe,” Enrico Marchi, President of the SAVE Group said.

“Today’s opening is a further step forward in strengthening an increasingly strategic logistics hub. The project is part of ENAC’s wider effort to strengthen and modernise the national cargo sector, focusing on infrastructure development, automation and digitalisation to make the airport system ever more efficient and competitive. Air freight is a strategic asset for the competitiveness of Italy’s productive system and of Made in Italy: it creates economic value and jobs and benefits local areas. All of this is in line with the new National Airports Plan, which identifies strengthening the cargo supply chain as a priority action to meet growing demand and support the country’s competitiveness in international markets,” Carlo Mearelli, Extraordinary Commissioner of ENAC said.

“Since the airport opened in March 1999, the Brescia community has waited a long time for guarantees and certainty about its future. A clear strategy was needed, and it had to work through a complex process: first the award of the concession, then a development plan, and finally the necessary authorisations. It seems that all the pieces have finally fallen into place and lined up the right way. Today, with the opening of the new cargo warehouse, and with the recent start of flights linked to a major e-commerce company, a growth outlook that appears solid and lasting is finally taking shape. I am deeply satisfied with this important strategic milestone, not only for the airport itself but also for the wider local economy it supports,” Marco Togni, Mayor of Montichiari and Province of Brescia councillor responsible for airport development and the Area Plan said.

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