Nearly all large cities worldwide have more than one international airport; some have as many as eight to choose from. For this article’s sake, we thought we would look at Milan, which has two main airports Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) and Milan Linate Airport (LIN).
Technically, Milan has three airports if you count Il Caravaggio Orio al Serio International Airport (BGY) in Bergamo, 45 km (28 mi) northeast of Milan. So not counting Bergamo, let’s have a look and see which one we would prefer to fly into and why.
Malpensa is Milan’s’s main airport
Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is located about 52 kilometers (32 miles) northwest of Milan and is the main airport in northern Italy for long-haul international flights. Malpensa is also the busiest of Milan’s airports handling around 25 million passengers per year. This figure makes Malpensa the second busiest airport in Italy after Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO).
All non-EU originating flights to Milan arrive at MXP, which is also a hub for British low-cost carrier easyJet. Malpensa Airport has two terminals with Terminal 2 exclusively used by easyJet. All other passengers travel through Terminal 1.
Getting into the city
If you are not traveling with too much luggage, using public transport to get to the city center is the cheapest and most practical option. Local trains run between the airport and the city every 30 minutes, with passengers having the option of going to Milan Central Train Station or the smaller Milano Cadorna. Tickets cost €13 ($15) each way, with a journey time of 43 minutes. Alternatively, you can take a taxi from the airport for around €95 ($112), depending on time and day. The journey takes approximately 45 minutes in regular traffic.
Linate is Milan’s’s business airport
Milan Linate Airport (LIN) is the closest airport to the city center at only seven kilometers (four miles) away and serves mainly as a domestic airport for inter-Italian flights. Its closeness to the center makes it the airport of choice for people traveling on business.
Getting into the city
There is currently no train service into the city, so if you want to use public transport, it means taking a bus. The airport has a shuttle bus service that departs every half hour. Tickets cost €($6) for a single with a journey time of 25 minutes. A taxi from the airport will get you into the centers in 20 minutes and cost around €40 ($47).
Ryanair flies to Bergamo
As you can see, traveling through Milan Linate Airport is much more convenient than Malpensa, but because of this, tickets tend to be more expensive. Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair operates its flights to Milan using Bergamo Airport (BGY) and, with a similar journey time into the center as Malpensa, is worth considering.
To sum things up, all three airports offer the same amenities, but you will almost certainly land at Malpensa if you arrive in Milan from outside Europe. For people coming on European flights, easyJet and Ryanair are both very competitive with their pricing.
Which is your favorite Milan Airport, and why? Please let us know what you think in the comments.
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