Milan–Malpensa Airport (IATA: MXP, ICAO: LIMC), formerly City of Busto Arsizio Airport, is the largest international airport for the Milan metropolitan area in northern Italy. It serves 15 million inhabitants in Lombardy Piedmont and Liguria. The airport is located 49 kilometres (30 mi) northwest of central Milan, next to the Ticino river (dividing Lombardy and Piedmont). The airport has two terminals and two runways as well as a dedicated cargo terminal.
In 2015, Malpensa Airport handled 18,582,043 passengers; it is currently the 29th busiest airport in Europe in terms of passengers. Until 2008, Malpensa Airport was a major hub for flag carrier alitalia. Malpensa Airport, together with Rome Fiumicino airport, remains as the busiest Italian airport for international passenger traffic, freight and cargo. It handles over 435,000 tons of international freight annually.
The first industrial airport was opened in 1909 near the Cascina Malpensa, an old farm, by Giovanni Agusta and Gianni Caproni to test their aircraft prototypes. This airport was then opened for civil operation in 1948 during the war reconstruction period, in order to serve the northern area of Milan.
