The Shareholders’ Meeting of Aeroporto di Genova S.p.A. has appointed a new Board of Directors and entrusted the presidency of the company to Matteo Paroli, President of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, who will lead the Cristoforo Colombo Airport until the approval of the 2026 financial statements.
This appointment marks the start of a particularly significant phase for the future of Genoa's airport, during which the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority has chosen to take on a direct role in the governance of the airport operator in order to support its value enhancement and the search for an industrial partner capable of sustaining its development in the medium and long term.
The new Board of Directors will be composed of Barbara Grasso and Alessandro Arvigo, appointed by the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, and Alessandro Cavo and Daniele Papone, nominated by the Genoa Chamber of Commerce.
The members also expressed their thanks to the outgoing President, Enrico Musso, and to board member Ilaria Queirolo for their work during their term of office, during which the airport consolidated its relaunch plan, recording growth both in economic and financial terms as well as in terms of passenger traffic.
“The West Ligurian Sea Port Authority has deemed it appropriate to assume direct responsibility for guiding the airport operator through the process of enhancing the value of the public shareholdings and of their divestment, as provided for by current legislation,” -declared the new President, Matteo Paroli. "This is a particularly significant step for the future of Aeroporto di Genova, coinciding with the start of due diligence activities aimed at determining the company’s value and subsequently identifying, through transparent, market-based procedures, an industrial partner capable of supporting its development. A number of controversies that have emerged in the local press in recent weeks confirm just how particularly delicate and strategic this phase is. For this reason, the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority has deemed it appropriate to take on a more direct role in the process of revitalising the company, in full accord and alignment of objectives with its partner, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts, and Agriculture, thereby ensuring full institutional oversight and clear management of the activities that will lead to the definition of the company’s future structure. The aim is to act in the best interests of the company, its shareholders, its employees and the local community, whilst carefully and transparently guiding a process that will have significant implications for the region’s economic and logistics sectors. At this stage, the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority considers it essential to focus on the tasks to be carried out and the results to be achieved, creating the best possible conditions so that the development process proceeds smoothly, in the interests of the airport and its future,” concluded the new President, Matteo Paroli.
“I wish President Paroli every success in his work,” said Luigi Attanasio, President of the Genoa Chamber of Commerce, “and I confirm that we will continue with our current activities so that we can carry out a joint assessment of the company and offer the relevant local public authorities the opportunity to become shareholders and contribute to future strategies for the development of our airport.”
The choice of the Western Liguria Sea Port Authority (which holds a 60% majority stake) forms part of a process already underway in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce (40%) to facilitate the entry of a qualified industrial partner capable of guaranteeing investment, management expertise and a vision for the airport’s international development.
The airport is, in fact, a strategic infrastructure for the competitiveness of Liguria and North-Western Italy, and is set to play an increasingly integrated role within the region’s port, logistics and tourism systems. In recent years, the Cristoforo Colombo Airport has achieved significant results, exceeding 1.57 million passengers in 2025 and confirming a further upward trend in 2026 thanks to the expansion of its route network and the strengthening of its commercial offering.
The arrival of an industrial partner therefore represents a decisive step towards enabling the airport to take a further leap forward in scale, strengthening its ability to attract new international connections, develop high value-added cargo traffic and consolidate synergies with the cruise industry, one of the main drivers of the regional tourism economy. The airport’s recent development strategies have already led to an increase in charter flights for cruise passengers and the launch of new connections designed to cater to international tourist flows.
The vision outlined for Cristoforo Colombo airport is that of an infrastructure that is increasingly integrated into Liguria’s logistics and transport system, capable of capitalising on the natural complementarity between the port and the airport and of contributing to the region’s economic growth through the development of tourism, intermodal transport and production chains linked to domestic and international trade.
