No More Tourists, Please

In Siena, Italy a group of citizens say they are not interested in the expansion of their small airport... and feel things are just fine as they are, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Apparently, the last thing the locals want are a bunch of tourists. Officials predict an additional half-million visitors by 2020, spurred on over Siena's colorful il Palio horse race.

The group doesn't want new construction on the terminal or parking lots, and hopes to thwart efforts to increase capacity. Their fear: large outlet malls and hotel chains -- in addition to noise, pollution and the impact a larger airport could have on the medieval churches, castles, and hamlets nestled in farmland, forests, and natural reserves nearby.

"You have to factor in quality of life. We don't object to growth, but our main intent is to remain human, " said Luciano Fiordoni, an economist who spoke at a recent anti-airport rally.

The Ampugnano airport's board of administration has other ideas, though: grow, or call it quits. Not helping matters is the fact the field is losing money.

Built as a military airfield in the 1930s, it has been losing cash ever since -- between half a million and 800,000 euros, or nearly $1.2 million, a year, according to board president Enzo Viani.

"It was unthinkable to think that it could continue losing money," he told IHT. "We had to make a decision."

The airport is supported by the Galaxy Fund, a dedicated transportation infrastructure equity fund whose main investors are the French Groupe Caisse des Depots, the Italian Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the German state development bank Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau, and the European Investment Bank is also a co-investor.

The airport could become profitable, according to Viani, with Galaxy's 50 million-euro investment, and another $30 million thrown in by the airport's current shareholders -- Siena's municipal and provincial governments, its chamber of commerce, the municipality of Sovicille and the local bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Essentially, the investment would ensure that the runway would be operable for its entire length -- 4,920 feet -- allowing midsized planes that carry anywhere between 30 and 80 people to operate safely.

No proposal is currently on the table until the local government can weigh the findings of environmental impact studies and determine the mood of local citizens, Viani said.

If modified, the airport would be host to flights to 15 destinations, mostly European capitals, by 2009. Tourist traffic would climb from nearly 150,000 in 2009 to around 330,000 in 2012.

FMI: www.world-airport-codes.com/italy/siena-6892.html