Trapani–Chinisia Airport / Borizzo Airfield

The closure to civilian traffic in 1961 was due to the opening of the nearby, larger, and more modern Trapani–Birgi Airport (IATA: TPS, ICAO: LICT) for commercial flights. Birgi offered a longer runway and better facilities, capable of handling larger, modern aircraft. The final military closure in the late 2000s was part of a broader rationalization and downsizing of military infrastructure by the Italian government following the end of the Cold War, consolidating operations at more strategic bases like Birgi.

The site is no longer used for any aviation activities. A significant portion of the former base, including some of its buildings, has been converted and is used by the Italian government as a reception and repatriation center for migrants and asylum seekers (known as a CPR - Centro di Permanenza per i Rimpatri). The remaining areas, including the old runways, taxiways, and derelict hangars, are in a state of abandonment and decay. The layout of the former airfield is still clearly visible from satellite imagery, but the infrastructure is unusable for aviation.

The airfield has significant military and civil history. It was constructed in the 1930s by the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) and originally named 'Aeroporto di Milo'. In 1938, it was renamed in honor of Livio Borizzo, an Italian aviator killed in the Spanish Civil War. During World War II, it was a crucial Axis airbase for both the Regia Aeronautica and the German Luftwaffe. Its strategic location made it a primary base for air operations against Malta and Allied shipping in the Mediterranean, and for supporting the North African Campaign. It was heavily targeted by Allied bombing raids before and during the 1943 invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky). After its capture, it was used by the USAAF as 'Borizzo Airfield'. Following the war, in 1949, it was opened to civilian air traffic and became the first commercial airport serving Trapani, handling flights from early Italian airlines. This civil role ended in 1961 with the transfer of all commercial traffic to Trapani-Birgi. It then reverted to a purely secondary military role until its final decommissioning.

There are no known or credible plans to reopen the site as an airport. The proximity and full operational capacity of Trapani-Birgi Airport (TPS), which adequately serves the region's commercial, general aviation, and military needs, make a second airport in the immediate vicinity redundant and economically unviable. The current use of the land as a government facility and the degraded state of the aviation infrastructure further preclude any realistic prospects for reopening for aviation purposes.