Interview with Eugenio Sorrentino

There is one date that everyone recalls; 14 February 2002, the day of arrival of the first flight operated by Ryanair, from Frankfurt, complete with a wedding on board celebrated by a Burgomaster. It was a colourful episode. This was, in reality, the beginning of a new season, not only for Bergamo airport, which took the opportunity to begin a partnership that was to render it the most important Southern-European base for the Irish airline. The growth of Ryanair led to the emergence of the potential of the airport in terms of accessibility, rendering it user friendly and progressively extending its catchment area.

The development in infrastructure paved the way for an increase in the annual number of passengers, the result of a clear view of goals, and I feel that this was a winning strategy. It was the only way to render an evolution of this type manageable. It should be remembered that before the development of passenger traffic, the main business component was represented by freight couriers, who have always represented a significant volume of traffic and played an enormously important role in local logistics. This activity is now located in the area to the north of the airport, separated from passenger flows. The same northern area has also seen the development of the most important Ryanair maintenance centre, with five hangers. The airport as a whole has managed and overcome the complex period of the pandemic, finding itself ready for the return to air travel. This was neither easy nor certain. Among the milestones I recall in particular is the opening of the first new section of the terminal on Christmas Eve 2008, with the plaza of culinary excellences, that was to be named after the ex-president Ilario Testa, who led SACBO from 1993 to 2008; then there is the extension of the Schengen flight area with the inauguration of the first, significant expansion of the commercial area in 2014; the following year saw the refurbishment of the runway, with planning that allowed flights in the spring to be suspended for just three weeks; lastly, the opening of the new non-Schengen flight area in July 2020 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of SACBO, and celebrations for the first scheduled flight in March 2022.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the on-board magazine presented on flights together with the daily newspapers was still popular. The largest airports, such as Rome Fiumicino, had their own bound publication. At the end of summer 2002, I made a proposal to the then-president Ilario Testa for an innovative magazine that focused on Bergamo airport and the surrounding area, complete with its attractions and traditions, published in two languages, Italian and English.

I worked on a name that expressed the idea of flight, and of the idea of travelling by plane. I chose AVION, and the idea was immediately popular. A hybrid formula was chosen for the publishing aspects. SACBO partially financed the initiative, rendering it the official airport magazine without acting as the publisher. This role went to Ferrari Grafiche in Clusone. I handled the content, working with a skilled network of collaborators, some of whom have since developed careers in journalism. Since the first issues, the magazine has undergone progressive evolution, gaining a footing in the panorama of specialised publishing and receiving appreciation from the local tourist sector as well as that of the destinations reached by the network of scheduled flights from Bergamo.

Our idea was to create a magazine that accompanied the passenger from their arrival at our airport to their final destination. Something they could also keep, and that provided information. The articles were studied to be pleasant to read, serving as a travel companion that proved interesting for its examination of subjects related to the local area served by Bergamo airport, invited readers to learn more about the destinations that could be reached, and also offered cultural insights. Initially, issues were published every two months, but the decision was later taken to transform Avion into a quarterly magazine in order to allow richer content that was showcased for a longer period of time. For the first ten years, the fundamental format remained the same, with an increasing concentration on promoting inbound and outbound tourism. This was a natural evolution that responded to the communication demands of the airport, which was growing year after year in terms of passenger traffic and network.

I published two books between 2019 and 2021. The first, entitled “Ilario Testa - Un manager con le ali” was for the series “I Protagonisti” by the Bergamo Economic and Social History Foundation, while the second, “Bergamo e il suo aeroporto”, published by Marcelliana, which looks back over the fifty years since the founding of SACBO as well as to the future of the airport. It has been suggested that before the end of my term at the SACBO press office, I create a digital archive of the events that I have examined through press releases, as well as photographic and film material. I am working on a publication inspired by the relationship between humankind and the moon, from a scientific and cultural point of view. Visitors to my office can’t help but notice a blend of aviation and space.

Interview by Angela Trivigno

Avion Tourism Magazine
Photo: Copyright © Sacbo