![]() On 2 February 1950 Trans World Airlines (TWA) became the first company to fly long-haul flights from Malpensa, using Lockheed Constellations on their services to New York Idlewild Airport (now JFK).Ī change of ownership occurred in 1952 when the Municipality of Milan took control of the airport's operator, the Società Aeroporto di Busto Arsizio. ![]() Malpensa Airport officially commenced commercial operations on 21 November 1948 as Aeroporto Città di Busto Arsizio, although the Belgian national flag-carrier Sabena had started flying to Brussels from here a year earlier. A small wooden terminal was constructed to protect goods and passengers from bad weather. The main runway, heavily damaged by German troops as they retreated from northern Italy, was rebuilt and extended to 1,800 metres. They aimed to make it an industrial fulcrum for the post-war recovery of Italy. Soon after their arrival, the Germans laid the airfield's first concrete runway.Īfter the cessation of hostilities during the Second World War, manufacturers and politicians of the Milan and Varese regions, led by banker Benigno Ajroldi of Banca Alto Milanese, restored the airfield. In September 1943, Malpensa airfield was taken over by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe when northern Italy was invaded by Adolf Hitler. Both Gianni Caproni and Giovanni Agusta established factories on the new site the airfield soon developed into the largest aircraft production centre in Italy.ĭuring the 1920s and 1930s, the airfield hosted two squadrons of the Regia Aeronautica Italiana ( Italian Air Force). In the years that followed, many aircraft prototypes took off from the same site eventually, it was decided to upgrade the farming patch to a more formal airfield. The first began on, when the Caproni brothers flew their "flying machine", the Cal biplane. ![]() The site of today's Malpensa Airport has seen aviation activities for more than 100 years. ( January 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.
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