Giulia Airfield

The primary reason for its closure was military demobilization. The airfield was a temporary wartime facility built specifically for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during the Italian Campaign of WWII. With the end of the war, the strategic need for this and many other airfields in the Foggia Airfield Complex disappeared. There was no subsequent economic or commercial demand to convert it into a permanent civilian airport, leading to its abandonment.

The site is no longer recognizable as an active airfield from the ground. A very large portion of the former airfield, including the old runway and taxiway areas, has been repurposed and is now home to one of Europe's largest photovoltaic power plants (solar farms), known as the 'Parco fotovoltaico di Cerignola'. While the faint, ghostly outlines of the WWII-era runways and dispersal pads are still visible in satellite imagery beneath and around the solar panels, the land is now used for renewable energy generation and surrounding areas are used for agriculture. The site is completely non-operational for any aviation purposes.

Giulia Airfield is the modern, unofficial name for the historical 'Cerignola Airfield'. It was a significant heavy bomber airfield during World War II, forming a key part of the Foggia Airfield Complex, a network of bases in the region used by the USAAF. Its primary user was the Fifteenth Air Force. Specifically, it was the base for the 459th Bombardment Group, which flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. From Cerignola, the 459th BG conducted long-range strategic bombing missions against critical enemy targets, including oil refineries, aircraft factories, and transportation hubs in Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, and the Balkans between 1944 and 1945. The airfield was a critical asset in the Allied effort to cripple the Axis war machine from the south.

Effectively zero. The construction of the massive and permanent solar farm infrastructure on the site makes any prospect of reopening it as an airfield financially and logistically impossible. The land has been fundamentally repurposed. There are no known plans, discussions, or proposals to restore aviation activity at this location.