Sizzling sicily ‘taking off’

The property industry on the island of Sicily has been given a huge boost with news that a new airport currently being developed will be completed and ready for traffic in spring 2008...

Comiso Airport is being rebuilt on the grounds of a disused World War II military airbase on the island’s south east Coast, around 20km from the town of Ragusa. It is believed local authorities are currently in talks with budget airlines to secure carriers for operation from the airport next year.

Gabrielle Achilleos, director of DeFremery Finances, commented: “This is fantastic news for the region as south Eastern Sicily, while rich with history, has not got a fully developed property market yet.

“While Sicily is not Eastern Europe, it is situated as an emerging market inside an established western European country, with all its laws, taxes and buyer protections.”

Government investment

He added: “The local government has invested heavily in the construction of new motorways, and the renovation of existing ones, linking the island’s coastal towns in a bid to improve access for the 1.5million overseas tourists that arrived in Sicily in 2006.

“A new motorway is being built linking Comiso Airport with the coastal towns of Gela, Modica, and Noto on the island’s south east Coast. Another motorway is also currently under construction linking the town of Syracuse with the Eastern coastal town of Catania, which has recently had an upgrade to its airport, and has been renamed Vincenzo Bellini. The airport’s new terminal is part of a greater enlargement project due for completion in 2012”.