Environmental green light brings Florence Airport’s new runway closer

Florence’s long-awaited new airport runway cleared a major hurdle on Wednesday November 12, 2025, with the publication of the national Environmental Impact Assessment (VIA–VAS) decree. The decision, issued by Italy’s Ministry for the Environment in agreement with the Ministry of Culture, confirms the core layout of the future runway planned alongside the A11 highway. The project would replace the current alignment that points toward Monte Morello and requires aircraft to fly low over Brozzi, Quaracchi and Peretola.

For Toscana Aeroporti, which manages Florence and Pisa airports, the decree marks a turning point. The company said the environmental assessment acknowledges that preventive and mitigation measures included in the Masterplan are adequate, and it expects to move quickly toward the next stage: the multi-agency Services Conference, the final step before construction authorisations for both the new runway and the new terminal.

The runway has been discussed for decades. Its current version foresees a 2,200-meter strip rotated 90 degrees, designed to improve safety and reduce noise over densely populated neighborhoods. The project, officials argue, would also reduce crosswinds that often disrupt operations at the small Peretola airport.

A divided centre-left majority

The decree immediately sparked political reactions, exposing deep fractures inside Tuscany’s centre-left coalition—only three days after the announcement of the new regional executive.

In Florence, Mayor Sara Funaro welcomed the decision and said the city is ready to “move forward at full speed”, arguing that the new alignment would significantly reduce overflights in the northern suburbs and finally bring the airport up to the standards expected of an international cultural capital.

But the municipalities of the Piana—Sesto Fiorentino and Campi Bisenzio—reacted in the opposite direction. Both mayors announced they will file appeals to the regional administrative court (TAR), claiming the project still presents unresolved environmental, hydraulic and territorial risks. They argue that the decree confirms concerns raised in earlier assessment phases and that the area remains too fragile for an expansion of this scale.

Their position was immediately backed by regional leaders of Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra and by several local civic groups. The regional branch of the Five Star Movement also stressed that the project currently lacks the required landscape authorization, calling this a procedural obstacle that could shift decisions to EU level.

A coalition under strain

These reactions highlight the competing visions now emerging within the same political field. While Florence’s mayor and Tuscany Airports see the runway as essential infrastructure for the region’s economy and a long-awaited solution for residents affected by overflights, other centre-left administrators frame it as an outdated project that ignores ecological vulnerabilities and the future of the Piana’s landscape.

The fracture has immediate political consequences: after the re-election of President Eugenio Giani and the formation of a new “broad-camp” regional coalition, the runway issue is already testing the unity of the majority. Opposition parties in Tuscany and at Florence’s city hall were quick to underline how the decree triggered a new round of internal conflict, suggesting it will be an early stress test for the coming five-year term.

What happens next

With the VIA–VAS decree now published, the next formal step is the Services Conference, where all national and regional authorities must jointly evaluate the project before granting the final construction permits. Tuscany Airports hopes for a swift process, while opponents prepare their legal challenges.

For Florence, the decree marks the closest the city has come in years to turning the runway plan into reality. Whether political divisions or upcoming court actions will slow the process remains to be seen, but the debate over the future of Peretola has clearly entered a new and sharply contested phase.

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