Intercontinental flights may be able to land at Milan Linate in the near future.
Linate is Milan's city airport
Perhaps. And according to speculation by the Italian daily Il Corriere.it, which has had access to the draft document on the new National Airport Plan, the strategic document outlining the development of Italian civil aviation up to 2035. According to this document the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is reportedly considering opening Milan’s city airport to intercontinental flights, particularly flights from and to New York, provided they are operated by single-aisle aircraft configured exclusively in business class and managed by traditional airlines.
Only narrow-body aircraft
This would inevitably require an amendment to current legislation. At present Linate is subject to strict restrictions set out in the so-called ‘Giovannini Decree’ of 2022, which permits only point-to-point flights; the use of narrow-body aircraft; routes within 1,500 km; and connections only to airports in the European Union or countries with which agreements are in place (such as the United Kingdom).
Linate Airport is already very congested
The Ministry’s aim would be to offer airlines greater commercial flexibility and attract premium customers directly to the centre of Milan, taking advantage of Linate’s strategic city airport location. However there is a significant constraint on the table: the airport can handle a maximum of 18 movements - take-offs and landings - per hour. But the airport is already very congested, so the introduction of long-haul flights would likely result in a reduction in some domestic or European flights.
Milan Malpensa could lose profitable traffic
If the project were to go ahead it would impact negatively on Milan Malpensa Airport as the latter could lose some of its most profitable traffic to Linate. It is no coincidence that the restrictions on the city airport were introduced precisely to encourage the growth of Malpensa as an international hub, especially following the crisis that led to Alitalia’s withdrawal from the airport. Among the airlines potentially most affected is ITA Airways, which, together with the Lufthansa Group, already holds a dominant position at Linate (around 52% of scheduled flights for the whole of 2026, according to Cirium data).
