A Guide to Airports Near Milan

There are three airports serving Milan, Italy, and which one you choose may depend on your departure city. Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP) is the largest and handles the most long-haul international flights. Milan Linate (LIN) is closest to the city center and serves mostly flights from within Italy. Bergamo (BGY) is located well outside Milan but is a busy hub for flights within Europe and the UK.

Whether you’re arriving at Malpensa, Linate, or Bergamo, you should be aware of each airport’s differences when booking your tickets; sometimes the cheapest ticket or the best schedule can have you flying into one airport and out of a different one, or involve a long transfer into the city.

• Location: Ferno, a suburb about 32 miles (52 kilometers) northwest of Milan
• Best If: You are flying internationally and are fine with accessing the city or airport via public transit.
• Avoid If: You don’t want to take public transportation into Milan, but you also don’t want to spend on a pricey cab ride into the city.
• Distance to Milano Centrale train station: A taxi to Milan’s main train station can take an hour in moderate traffic and about 40 minutes without. The set fare to the station is 110 euros, with possible surcharges for excessive baggage and night and weekend trips.

Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest of Milan’s airports, with 26 million passengers passing through in 2023. It’s also the second-busiest airport in Italy, after Rome Fiumicino. At present, all flights from the United States to Milan come into Malpensa. It’s also a hub for British low-cost carrier EasyJet. The airport has two terminals; T2 is used exclusively by EasyJet, while all other flights to and from Milan go through T1.

Malpensa is located approximately 32 miles (52 kilometers) from central Milan. Unless you are loaded down with a lot of luggage, taking public transportation into the city from the airport is easy, cheap, and convenient. Regional trains—operated by Trenord—run every half hour from Malpensa to Milano Centrale. Tickets can be purchased through Trenitalia and cost 14 euros. There are also trains every 30 minutes to Milano Cadorna, a smaller train station that is in the center of Milan. The fare is also 14 euros. From either Milano Centrale or Milano Cadorna, travelers can walk or take a taxi, tram, bus, or metro to other parts of the city.

There are also buses (both public and private) and shuttles offering direct service from the airport to various points in Milan. The transport link on the official airline website has information on the various ways to get to and from the airport.

• Location: Just outside Bergamo, about 31 miles (50 kilometers) east of Milan
• Best If: You’re flying a budget carrier or heading to Lake Como, the Italian Alps, or the Ticino region of Switzerland.
• Avoid If: You want to access the airport via train.
• Distance to Milano Centrale: A taxi to Milano Centrale will take 45 to 90 minutes, depending on traffic, and cost at least 80 euros.

Bergamo’s Orio al Serio International Airport—also known as Il Caravaggio International Airport, or simply Milan-Bergamo—is Milan’s second airport. Its prominence and traffic, with about 15 million passengers a year passing through, are thanks largely to budget carrier Ryanair, which uses the airport as a hub for flights throughout Europe and the UK.

The airport has a single, busy terminal and no direct train access to Milan. Five bus operators offer service from the airport to points in central Milan, all of them charging around 6–9 euros. There’s also a bus company that offers transfers to ski areas in the Trentino Dolomites region.

• Location: Linate, just outside the city center
• Best If: You’re flying within Italy or on another short-haul flight.
• Avoid If: You need to fly outside of Europe.
• Distance to Milano Centrale train station: A taxi to Milan’s main train station can take 15-30 minutes, depending on traffic. The fare will average around 40 euros.

Milan Linate Airport is certainly the easiest to reach of Milan’s airports, and serves more than nine million passengers per year, most of them flying on Alitalia flights within Italy. The Rome-Milan route is especially popular with business flyers, who can quickly access the city from this close-in airport.

The M4 metro line connects the single-terminal airport to the city center (though not to Milano Centrale) in just 12 minutes. The Linate Shuttle service runs buses from Milano Centrale to Linate every half hour, with a 25-minute journey time. Tickets are seven euros one-way.

Get the App

The SEA airport authority, which operates Milan Malpensa and Linate airports, offers the Milan Airports app, available for Apple and Android.