Lido di Jesolo

45°29'45"N 012°36'05"E

runway: 07/25 - 700x..m - grass

Lido di Jesolo airfield (Aeroporto Lido di Jesolo) was an airfield 20 kilometers east of Venice.
The airfield was built by one of the Ferrari di Antonio brothers, then owners of FAP (Ferrari Autotrasporti Piave), today the no-longer-privately-owned ATVO bus and coach services.
Mr. Ferrari, an aviation enthusiast and a pilot himself, owned some land in Lido di Jesolo and decided to build a small airstrip that would serve holidaymakers who wanted to commute to their vacation in Jesolo by airplane.
He founded the Aero Club di San Donà and this Aero Club at one point supposedly also ran a flying school.
The "Airline" Aeralpi (by todays standards it would be called a feederliner) started a scheduled service from Jesolo to Cortina 2 June 1965.
It operated three Pilatus PC-6/A-H2 Porters: registered I-ALBO, I-ROCE and I-SORE.




Photo of the inauguration of services between Jesolo and Cortina d'Ampezzo (via Peter Zanella)


Around the mid 70's the decline of the airport began with the death of Mr. Ferrari.
The heirs, not interested in aviation, saw no use for the airstrip.
They eventually decided to sell separate lots to several purchasers, who used it as farming land.
Although it had long been closed, the airstrip was kept on sectional charts for a long time.
In the late 70's a German 4-seater with father (pilot), mother and two small children, belly-landed in a corn-field in Jesolo.
The aircraft (an Aero Subaru, according to Peter Zanella) had run out of fuel when papa could not find the airstrip!
Even today, the airfield still holds an IATA code (JLO).

No photos of the airfield while in use have been located

There appears to be confusion over the exact location of the airfield.
Users of some Italian pilot-forums, quote the airport as been across the SP42 from the go-kart track (Pista Azzurra).
Appearantly they are fooled by the presence of a gate-guardian RF-84F at the entrance (45.505473N, 12.627137E).
The correct location is mentioned at the top of this article however.
At the location you can still see a hangar and the former operations building.
The latter is nowadays in use as a grill restaurant.
The former runway is unrecognisable, having been fully returned to agricultural use.





Jesolo in 2007 with the approximate location of the runway. The hangar and stationbuilding are located just north of the parking area of the Aqualandia park (Google Earth)





The old hangar at Jesolo in 2012, photographed by Erwin Leetink.To the right a diesel pump can be seen, which presumably supports the hangars' current agricultural function.

 

A special thanks to Peter Zanella for pointing out this airfield!