Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport

Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport is the principal airport of the Italian region of Liguria and the Mediterranean's westernmost Italian international airport. Named for the Genoese-born navigator who links Italian maritime history to the Americas, GOA handles 35 scheduled routes to 28 nonstop destinations operated by 14 airlines, with a traffic mix weighted toward intra-European business routes and seasonal Mediterranean leisure flows. The airport operates a single 9,564 ft (2,915 m) lighted asphalt runway 10/28 at 13 ft (4 m) elevation, built entirely on reclaimed land from the Ligurian Sea. The runway protrudes into the Gulf of Genoa on a rectangular artificial peninsula, giving the airport one of the most visually distinctive approach profiles in Italy and one of the few runways in Europe where both runway ends terminate over open Mediterranean water. GOA is home base to ITA Airways (the successor to Alitalia), which operates regional feeder service to Rome-Fiumicino, plus seasonal service by Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, British Airways, and Ryanair. Internationally significant through Genoa's role as the historic home port of Italian-Mediterranean maritime commerce and as a key cruise-ship departure point: GOA serves as the principal air gateway for MSC Cruises embarkations at the Stazione Marittima di Genova, one of the busiest cruise terminals in the Mediterranean. The airport also supports the region's specialized industrial economy — shipbuilding at Fincantieri Sestri Ponente adjacent to the airport, and the Italian Riviera hospitality belt stretching east to Portofino and La Spezia and west to Sanremo. The airport is 7 km (4.3 mi) west of central Genoa via the A10 motorway.