Almost a year after their launch, the Spanish airline Volotea has suspended two domestic Italian flights from Salerno-Pontecagnano Costa d'Amalfi Airport. This affects the routes to Catania, Sicily, and Verona.
The connection to Catania was discontinued at the end of June, and the route to Verona will follow on July 3, 2025, according to the specialist portal Italia Vola. Both routes were only added to the flight schedule in September 2024, but did not meet the company's economic expectations.
The suspension of Volotea's domestic flights is a setback for Salerno Airport, which only reopened to civil air traffic in 2007 and is still under development to become a fully-fledged hub. Salerno Airport, also known as Aeroporto di Salerno Costa d'Amalfi, is strategically located south of the city of Salerno and was intended to serve as a gateway to the Amalfi Coast and the Cilento regions. The difficulty in maintaining profitable domestic connections may be due to a combination of low demand, strong competition from other modes of transport such as rail, and possibly the general economic situation.
Despite the cancellation of domestic routes, Volotea is maintaining its seasonal international connections from Salerno. Flights to Lyon and Marseille in France will continue twice weekly until the end of August, while the Nantes route will be served until the end of October 2025. This decision indicates that international routes are more economically viable, possibly due to a more specific tourist audience or lower competition. The future of Salerno Airport and its role as a regional airport depend significantly on the ability to establish stable and profitable flight connections.