Milan Malpensa or Linate: which airport to use

Fly into Linate whenever your route allows it: it's 12 minutes from the center on the M4 metro for a 2.20 euro ticket, while Malpensa, with almost three times the traffic, 31,385,585¹ passengers in 2025 against 11,131,764², is 37 minutes out on a 15 euro train.

Malpensa and Linate side by side

Both airports are run by the same company, SEA, and the difference that decides most bookings is 37 minutes and 15.00 euro against 12 minutes and 2.20 euro.

Malpensa is the second airport in Italy

Malpensa handled 31,385,585¹ passengers in 2025, up 8.6% on 2024, which makes it the second Italian airport after Rome Fiumicino. Linate handled 11,131,764², up 4.5%, and ranks eighth.

That size gap is what fills Malpensa's departure boards. If your flight arrives from outside Europe, the choice may not be yours at all, and our sources don't list routes by airport, so check which one your booking uses before you plan around Linate.

Linate is on the metro

Linate is served by the M4, a metro line of 21 stations over 15 km that ends at Linate Aeroporto, 12 minutes from the city center. You ride it on the normal ATM urban ticket, 2.20 euro for 90 minutes in zones Mi1 to Mi3.

There's no airport supplement on the fare. For a short European trip with hand luggage, that's the whole case for Linate: 12 minutes against 37, and 2.20 euro against 15.00.

Malpensa is a 37 minute train ride

The Malpensa Express RE54 runs from Milano Cadorna to Malpensa Terminal 1 in 37 minutes, one train every 30 minutes, over the 41 km between airport and city. On the way it stops at Busto Arsizio, Saronno and Milano Bovisa.

An adult single costs 15.00 euro and a child aged 4 to 13 7.50 euro in 2026; children up to 3 travel free with a paying parent. If you're coming back through Malpensa, the online-only return is 25.00 euro, valid for 30 days, with the return date changeable up to three times.

Note the terminus: Cadorna, not Milano Centrale. If your hotel is near the central station, check whether the connection from Cadorna eats the time you saved by not taking a taxi.

Early flights and late landings

The first Malpensa Express leaves Cadorna at 4:57 am and the last at 11:27 pm; from the airport the first leaves at 5:56 am and the last at 12:26 am. Between those times there's one every 30 minutes.

For a 7:00 am departure from Malpensa, the 4:57 am train is your realistic option. For a late landing, 12:26 am is the last train you can count on, and anything after that means a taxi or a hotel near the airport.

What we couldn't compare

Taxi fares from either airport, the route map of each, and the bus services are not in our verified sources. Neither is Milan's third airport in any detail on this page: Bergamo, the low-cost base, is covered on Milan airports.

We compare what the operators publish. For everything else, the airport's own site is the reference, not a comparison page.

Pick which

Pick Linate if your airline flies there: 12 minutes, 2.20 euro, and a metro line that ends at the airport.

Pick Malpensa if the flight you want only lands there, and budget 37 minutes and 15 euro for the train. For the onward trip into the city and to other Italian cities, see getting to Milan.

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