- Italian airport cargo closed the first seven months of 2026 at 725,707 tonnes, down 1% on 2025, according to Assaeroporti data. Freight alone fell by only 0.4%, however, because more than 60% of the overall loss came from mail, which dropped by 18.1% to 20,961 tonnes, while surface cargo rose by 21.1%.
- Milan Malpensa remains Italy’s leading cargo airport with 413,008 tonnes, but it lost 27,110 tonnes, down 6.2%, and saw its market share fall below 60%. Without this contraction, the Italian airport system would have closed the seven-month period at around +2.7% rather than -1%.
- The offset came from Rome Fiumicino, which grew by 6.4% to 166,759 tonnes and increased its share to 23%, and from Bergamo, which recorded 22,696 tonnes, up 60.7%, overtaking Brescia to move into fifth place nationally. The market remains highly concentrated, with the top ten airports handling 98.24% of volumes.
In the first seven months of 2026, freight handled by Italian airports recorded a slight decline, falling from 733,363 tonnes in 2025 to 725,707 tonnes in 2026, according to figures released at the end of August by Assaeroporti. The difference was 7,656 tonnes, equal to 1%, but the aggregate figure masks a much wider redistribution of volumes between airports than the national decline suggests. By cargo type, air freight stood at 692,177 tonnes, down 0.7%, while surface cargo, meaning volumes routed by road between airports but recorded in airport cargo statistics, rose to 12,569 tonnes, a sharp increase of 21.1%. Total freight therefore came to 704,746 tonnes, a modest decline of 0.4%. Mail was the main drag: 20,961 tonnes, down 18.1%, with a loss of 4,627 tonnes that alone accounted for more than 60% of the overall contraction. Of total cargo, air freight represented 95.4%, mail 2.9% and surface cargo 1.7%.
The monthly trend showed steady progression, from around 87,000 tonnes in January to 116,277 tonnes in July, an increase of almost one third over the first seven months. This, however, reflects seasonality rather than a year-on-year recovery: although July was the heaviest month, it was down 2.9% on the same month of the previous year, June closed at 112,359 tonnes, down 0.8%, and only January recorded a positive balance, albeit by just 0.5%.
Malpensa confirmed its position as Italy’s main freight airport, although it posted a 6.2% decline in the first seven months. It handled 413,008 tonnes, 27,110 fewer than in 2025, and its share of the national total fell from 60% to 56.9%, while over the past 12 months it has lost three percentage points. Malpensa’s contraction was largely absorbed by growth at other airports. Rome Fiumicino consolidated second place with 166,759 tonnes and an increase of 10,053 tonnes, equal to 6.4%. Its national share rose from 21.4% to 23%, narrowing the gap with the leading airport by more than one and a half percentage points. Together, the two largest airports now account for 79.9% of Italian cargo. The fastest rise in the ranking was recorded by Bergamo, which moved from 14,127 to 22,696 tonnes, an increase of 8,570 tonnes, or 60.7%. The airport serving the Bergamo area thus overtook Brescia and climbed to fifth place nationally, raising its share from 1.9% to 3.1%.
Brescia closed at 18,987 tonnes, up 2.5%, but this result reflected two opposing trends: air freight rose by 42%, while mail, historically a significant component for the Lombardy airport, fell by 22.7%. A similar shift in composition affected Bologna, which ranked fourth with 33,125 tonnes and growth of 3.6%. There, air freight fell by 4.7%, while surface cargo, up 42%, drove the positive result.
Venice retained third place with 35,467 tonnes, down 628 tonnes, or 1.7%, with its national share virtually unchanged at around 4.9%. The decline affected both air freight, down 1.2%, and surface cargo, down 7.4%. Naples was among the most dynamic performers in the leading group, with 6,411 tonnes and an increase of 23.6%, driven by air freight, up 28.1%, allowing it to move from ninth to seventh place ahead of Pisa and Ciampino. The latter reached 6,369 tonnes, up 6.6%, almost entirely in air freight. The sharpest percentage decline among Italy’s top ten airports was recorded by Pisa, which fell from 7,533 to 6,316 tonnes, down 16.2%, losing two places in the ranking, while Ancona closed the list with 3,820 tonnes, down 3.5%.
Market concentration explains why trends at a small number of airports shape the overall national result: the top ten airports handled 712,958 tonnes, equal to 98.24% of Italian cargo, while the top five alone accounted for 92.5%. The remaining 31 airports surveyed by Assaeroporti shared just 1.8%. The same reasoning applies to the negative result in 2026: the top ten airports lost around 7,239 tonnes overall, almost 95% of the entire national decline, while all other airports together contributed just over 400 tonnes.
A.M.B.
