On the outskirts of the airport the training grounds of local football club Reggina Calcio are located.

In March 2017, Alitalia announced it would terminate all 56 weekly flights to and from the airport (to Milan, Rome and Turin) stating all routes were heavily loss-making.

The airport is reachable in 7 minutes by regional trains from Reggio Calabria Centrale or Melito di Porto Salvo.

Even the airport railway station has faced criticism by the local community, due to its 2 km (1.2 mi) distance from the terminal and the low number of passengers which use it.

This issue, together with low passenger numbers have caused the pier to be abandoned and used by fishermen, becoming a symbol of waste of public money.