Enough with the rivalry in the skies between Rimini and Forlì. Romagna’s airports must stop competing with each other and start thinking as a single system. That is the message from Cisl Romagna and Fit Cisl Emilia-Romagna, who have weighed in on the debate over the future of the Fellini and Ridolfi airports following recent statements from local stakeholders.
What worries the union most is the resurgence of a rivalry between the two airports, fuelled in part by comments from local administrators and political figures. According to Cisl, this approach risks weakening both airports rather than strengthening Romagna’s overall airport system.
«As trade union organisations that care about jobs and development across the whole of Romagna – say Cisl Romagna and Fit Cisl Emilia-Romagna – we cannot afford to let the Forlì and Rimini airports compete against each other, wasting resources and energy that should instead be pooled together».
The figures on the table also tell very different stories. In July, Rimini’s Fellini airport recorded growth of 41.5%, surpassing 326,000 passengers in the first seven months of 2026. Forlì’s Ridolfi airport, by contrast, closed July with a 6.7% decline, reaching around 52,000 passengers between January and July.
For Cisl, however, this very gap shows that a single regional support measure is not enough to guarantee the same results for both airports. What is needed are proper commercial strategies, infrastructure, connections and, above all, planning capable of going beyond the boundaries of individual local territories.
«Behind every flight, every route, every passenger, there are workers, tourism-related businesses, logistics: people who pay the price for fragmented choices and inconsistent planning», the union organisations point out.
Hence the appeal to the Emilia-Romagna Region, municipalities and airport operators to speed up the process set out in the new regional law aimed at networking the airports together. For Cisl and Fit Cisl, the goal must go beyond simple coexistence between Fellini and Ridolfi: airports, railway stations, road networks and the port of Ravenna should become parts of a single mobility system for Romagna.
Even the idea of a Forlì-Ravenna axis is read in this light. «The proposal for a Forlì-Ravenna axis can make sense – the union concludes – only if it is part of a broader system-wide vision, not as an isolated move by a struggling area».
According to Cisl, the issue at stake is therefore not which airport should prevail over the other. «The real challenge is not who wins between Forlì and Rimini, but whether Romagna as a whole will finally manage to act as one team, ensuring job stability and growth prospects for all workers in the sector».
