Car Rentals – Italian Airports

 

BERGAMO – Check Airport Arrivals and Departures

Bergamo Airport (as used to be called “Milan” by Ryanair) is called Orio al Serio and has recently had some alterations to the main arterial roads surrounding the airport and area, so sat navs may have some small problems. This region has grown quickly due to increased visitor numbers and can be quite busy at certain times.

Most of the car rental companies are located within the terminal building. If on an international flight, turn left out of the customs doors and the offices are on either side of the concourse. Budget, Avis, Hertz and many other suppliers are all there. Be warned however, most people pre-book and people booking cars on arrival may find themselves in difficulty.

The actual carpark is about 500 meters away and a bus will take you there every 15 minutes. You can alternatively walk through the public carpark (turn right out of the terminal) and walk through the carparks to the wire fence at the end, there is a gate, just next to the bus stop. The bus service is not 24 hours and early flights means walking down the road-pavement (gate to carpark is locked at night) to the terminals after dropping the car off. Allow 10 minutes. The keys are invariably left by dropping them through the booking office door in the terminal.

MALPENSA – Check Airport Arrivals & Departures

Milano Malpensa Airport “City of Milan” si the former “Aeroporto Città di Busto Arsizio” and is Milan’s largest airport and now serves as a hub for long-haul flights and low cost carriers. It is located 40 kilometres northwestof central Milan, Italy.

The airport is connected to Milan by the Milano-Varese highway as well as by the “Malpensa Express” train starting from the Milan Cadorna railway station (LeNord regional railways) and taking about 29-36 minutes.

It is also connected to Linate Airport by a scheduled bus service and by Milan’s local transportation. The Milan airport system has a third international airport, Orio al Serio Airport, which serves low-cost traffic.[citation needed]

Malpensa was the 21st busiest airport in Europe in terms of passengers. As far as hub transit passengers are concerned it is also the second airport in Italy after Rome. EasyJet has a dedicated Terminal (T2) and Malpensa is the company’s biggest base outside the UK.

LINATE – Check Airport Arrivals and Departures

This airport is located in the extreme suburbs of East Milan, approximately 8 kilometers from the Milan city center. The airport was built next to Idroscalo of Milan in the 1930s when the Taliedo airport, located on the southern border of Milan, became too small to handle commercial traffic.

Being completely rebuilt twice (50’s and 80’s) it never could serve the increasing demands. It is now connected to the Malpensa Airport by highways that are well served by service buses. The airport serves twenty different airlines that mostly serve other airports in Europe. In addition, it serves as the arrival airport for EasyJet, which is a low cost United Kingdom carrier. At the moment the airport has only one terminal for both domestic and international flights.

Due to the proximity of Linate Airport to Milan city it is mainly used for domestic and short haul international flights.

Things to look for:
1. INSURANCE. We always recommend taking extra insurance (and as the editor, it has been necessary), but this can be a lot cheaper by using an online service (e.g.Mondial), saving up to EU100. The only downside is you pay initially for the damage and then claim it back.

2. Check the car for damage before you set off and make sure the tank is full!

3. Drive on the “Right”

4. Parking. Meters and car parks abound! Take lots of small EU change.

5. The “return the car with tank full” works fine, but often the car returns are in unsocial hours. Make sure you know how to work the self service pumps. Generally it follows these guidelines:

a) Pull up next a pump connected to the payment machine (generally the closest)
b) Feed machine with money. Make sure you have a lot of EU5 and EU10 notes! they take EU50 and          EU20 but no point in wasting money.
c) Select pump number.
d) Fill tank!