Florence Airport Reviews

Is Pisa an option? We've flown in and out of there for Florence with no problems whatsoever.

We just went in and out of Florence in September. Its a small airport so gets packed- doesn't have the room to handle so many people. Didn't have a bad experience with the airport itself or people working there in fact was surprised how smooth it went with how crowded it was- I didn't really notice it until we got to the gate though. Check- in and security was a breeze.

We've only flown out of Florence once (about 6 weeks ago). Other than the very long hike to the gate, due to construction, we had no difficulties at all. It all went smoothly. This was a mid morning flight.

JC - Pisa would certainly be an option, though flying directly into and out of FLR would be more convenient.
Aly & CJean - thanks for the replies. Just looking for reassurance from recent travelers that we're not likely to regret a decision to use Peretola as our arrival and departure point.

I could use the same negative terms to describe experiences at Rome and Paris airports at various times, with long lines all merging together in unmanaged fashion, but I still made it onto the planes. In general, I prefer a smaller airport.

I flew into Florence in March and arrival went very smoothly.

For the past 5 years I've flown in and out via FLR twice a year and out of those 10 trips everything was unremarkable and definitely not stressful ( except for one terribly stormy day when we were diverted to Pisa). It's easy to walk over to the bus stop and the taxi kiosk as well. Hope this is useful. The taxi to town is a regulated flat fee and posted in the cabs.

The most serious problem with Peretola airport is that most airlines simply use airplanes too big for the short runway, so that they can maintain schedule only under the best weather conditions. The problem is most serious with low cost airlines. Bologna and Pisa are nearby airports with longer runways and are more reliable in bad weather. - As for the bad service, it depends mostly on airlines. Almost all the problems I had in Florence are related to a single airline.

Lachera - which airline was it?

Flown out of FLR almost every year in the past 20 years, sometimes twice a year. It’s the easiest airport to fly out of in Italy. The check in hall was expanded in 2013 in expectation of increased business after the new longer runway is finally approved and built. Since there are 40 check in positions, and only 6 morning flights between 6 and 9 (and all aboard small regional jets), I’ve never spent more than 10 minutes for the check-in. The gates are still in the old building therefore the walk may appear long, but compared to the walks to the gates I have to endure at SFO, that is nothing. Also there are no ridiculous lines at security like I’m used sometimes with TSA in the US. I never show up at the FLR airport more than 60-75 min prior to departure and still have time for breakfast and shopping.
As Iachera said, the problem is the short runway, which forces Airlines to cancel flights in case of high winds or fog. That happens more frequently in winter though. It has happened to me only once out of maybe 20-25 times (was bused to Bologna) at around thanksgiving (fog), but in summer it’s more rare.

Thanks Roberto - that pretty much answers that.

I had problems mostly with Vueling. I would add that when Florence was serviced by propeller planes like ATR 42s and 72s or small jets like BAE 146s, cancellations were rare. Now that 130-seats planes like A319s are common, they are working close to the limit of the runway and cancellations or diversions due to bad weather are much more frequent. Meridiana had their A319s modified with stronger brakes.

I've only flow in/out of Florence once.

Flying into Florence on Delta (via Air France), we had to divert to Bologna because of wind/weather conditions. The bus ride from Bologna to Florence took us about an hour.

Flying out of Florence on KLM was another experience entirely. The computers were down across the entire airport. It was just short of chaos, but eventually we were manually checked in for the flight. My luggage was stuck there for a few extra days, but it also eventually returned to me.

Long story short - I doubt my experience is the norm, but I wasn't left with warm and fuzzy memories of the airport.

The airport is relatively close to the city centre, which is convenient for public transport. Renting, or returning, a car, can be a problem. The rental area is some distance from the terminal, with a swirl of both highways and local streets to navigate. There is a shuttle to the terminal, but finding the rental area to return a car is like navigating a maze, with traffic signs that befuddled this non-Italian-speaker.

We flew through Florence in October. There was intense fog which cancelled all flights around our 9am departure. We stood in line for 2 hrs before a gentleman ferried us to a waiting bus that took us to Bologna for a flight to Germany then onto the U.S. We were told it happens all the time. If you have a 6am flight, you'll be fine departing as those planes are parked overnight. Our problem was the plane for our flight couldn't land in the fog, along with several other flights.

Due to the short runway, approximately 8-9% of flights are canceled or diverted every year when there are high winds or low visibility. Obviously those conditions are less frequent in summer, so if you fly in summer you are less likely to be adversely affected.
The problems caused by the short runway is why they are planning to build a new longer runway, which in spite of having had the Environmental Impact approved by the Government last month, still is strongly opposed by environmentalists and NIMBYs.
This is the rendering of the new planned FLR airport and new runway facing northwest.

Roberto, is there a particular season (or month) with a higher rate of weather delays and/or cancellations?
We're notionally planning for a visit in Feb. or March, and so are wondering if either of those might be high risk for that sort of thing.
Am beginning to think that our better option might be to carve out a couple of days at the end of the trip to visit Bologna, then just fly out of there.

Take a chance. In the rare event the flight is canceled it’s not a big deal. If you are flying Lufthansa or AirFrance, they bus you to Bologna at their expense, and you take the flight from there. If that makes you late to catch the connection in Frankfurt or Paris, as it happened to me, they simply book you on the next day first available flight to the US and put you overnight at the Sheraton at the Bologna airport, at their expense. By the way they have great food at the Sheraton at BLQ. All you can eat at the aitline’s expense. Then the next early morning you fly from BLQ to FRA or CDG or AMS and come home.
If the plane is diverted in the way there, you will land most likely at Bologna (or sometimes Pisa). Then they put you on a bus and take you to Florence airport. It’s just a delay of a couple of hours, but not a big deal.