
Milano Malpensa Airport
About MXP
Overview
Milan Malpensa Airport lies roughly 49 kilometres northwest of central Milan, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, near the Ticino river valley. It serves as the principal international gateway for the Milan metropolitan area and much of northern Italy. Originally a small airfield dating to the 1910s, Malpensa was substantially redeveloped in the late 1990s to become Milan's primary intercontinental airport, supplementing Linate.
Terminals & runways
The airport operates two passenger terminals: Terminal 1 handles the majority of scheduled traffic, including long-haul and Schengen flights, while Terminal 2 is dedicated to low-cost carriers. A separate cargo facility, Malpensa Cargo City, ranks among the largest in Italy. Two parallel runways oriented roughly northwest to southeast support continuous 24-hour operations, with ongoing modernisation of taxiways and terminal interiors.
Airlines
Malpensa functions as a major base for several carriers, including ITA Airways for select long-haul routes and easyJet, which maintains one of its largest continental European bases here. Cargo operations are anchored by DHL and other freight specialists. Most major European, North American, Middle Eastern, and Asian network carriers operate scheduled services, connecting Milan to global hubs.