Our History
The historical roots of Biella airport date back to 17 May 1962, when the Cerrione Airport Company (Sace spa) was established.
The company built the most important airport infrastructures on its own land, was enabled to directly carry out activities connected and complementary to air traffic of any type and specialty to increase the air connection of the Biella area and the province of Vercelli, with the main domestic and foreign centres.
After six years of work, the airport was finally inaugurated on 26 October 1968 by the then Minister of Transport Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, later President of the Republic.
Qualified as an "airport open to international tourist traffic", it was initially equipped with a 740 m asphalted runway, a junction and an apron for aircraft parking, two hangars, a small workshop and an aluminum prefab.
In 1986 the Company, supported also by the decision of the Piedmont Region to include the Biella-Cerrione airport among the four Piedmont airports suitable for third-level commercial traffic, began restructuring and upgrading works (purchase of additional land to favor the lengthening of the runway up to the current 1,500 m, construction of two further hangars to house a specialized aircraft maintenance workshop and a flight school for helicopter patents) aimed at guaranteeing the satisfaction of a transport demand from the areas of Biella, Ivrea, Vercelli and Borgosesia.
In the early years of the new millennium, Air Vergiate s.r.l. transferred the aeroschool activity and acquired the ownership of the airport in 2016, naming it to “Pietro Venanzi” (Chief Test Pilot of the Tilt Rotor program AW 609).
Air Vergiate, which is the first professional school certified by ENAC in Italy, has deployed its fleet and structured its operational base at the airport: the pilots and students of the school have teaching rooms, briefing/debriefing rooms, a planning area , operations office and didactic direction.
The direct management of the airport guarantees the Air Vergiate Flying School full availability to carry out the professional training activity of both fixed and rotary wing with maximum flexibility without conditioning and limitations by other dominant users (commercial traffic, industrial activities etc.); operations at the airport are also free from constraints due to higher airspace.
The airport hosts the fire warning service every year on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Civil Protection Department and is an important strategic base for Leonardo for its aircraft testing and pilot training operations.
