The former Campo di Marte, established by Joachim Murat in 1816 and later known as Piazza d'Armi, began to be used for the first aviation experiments. The flat, 44-hectare site, diamond-shaped and situated 72 metres above sea level, was ideally suited for the aircraft that were then taking their first steps. The history of Capodichino Airport began in the early 20th century. On 5 May 1910, three foreign aviators and one Italian aviator carried out the first aircraft demonstrations on the then Campo di Marte, a large flat area that had previously been used during the Bourbon period for military training and displays. Sporting aviation events continued to be held until 1913. On 23 April 1912, at the initiative of the Circolo Aeronautico Napoletano, Rosina Ferrario, the first Italian woman to obtain a pilot's licence and the seventh woman in the world to do so, took flight. During the exhibition, while flying over Naples, she dropped red carnations as a tribute to the city. Following the bombing of Naples on the night of 10–11 March 1918 by the German Zeppelin LZ 104, which departed from Bulgaria and dropped 6,400 kilograms (14,100 lb) of bombs, striking the Pattison shipyard, the city centre and the Ilva Bagnoli steelworks, causing around thirty deaths, it was decided to expand the airfield. The event led to a parliamentary inquiry regarding the city's inadequate air defence and to measures aimed at strengthening the airport. In 1919, a civil air terminal was opened to serve 17 airliners operated by various airlines. After being used as an airfield during the final year of World War I, it was developed as a military airport under the name Campo di Marte Military Airport of the Regia Aeronautica and was intended to serve as the home of the Accademia Aeronautica. Two hangars were built next to the entrance, which at the time was located on Via Nuovo Tempio, one of them being capable of accommodating a small airship. The airport was named after aviator Ugo Niutta on 19 June 1921. Following the end of the Great War, the Regia Aeronautica took possession of the airport and carried out an initial extension of the runway. By Royal Decree No. 444 of 1 March 1925, several plots of land were expropriated. A new entrance was opened from Piazza Capodichino (now Piazza Giuseppe Di Vittorio). From 1935 to 1939, the airport was home to the Scuola specialisti dell'Aeronautica Militare. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the runway was further developed along a new alignment. During World War II, the airport hosted the 22º Gruppo autonomo caccia terrestre, organised into four squadrons (359th, 362nd, 369th and 371st Squadrons), operating a mixed fleet of Macchi C.202 Folgore, Reggiane Re.2001, Macchi C.200 and Fiat CR.42CN fighter aircraft for night operations. At the end of February, the unit also received Dewoitine D.520 fighters. The 371st Fighter Squadron of the Regia Aeronautica was equipped with Macchi C.202 Folgore aircraft, while in March the first Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario fighters arrived. Following the Allied landings, the airport was used extensively by Allied air forces during the Italian campaign. It was first used by No. 324 Wing RAF, with its five squadrons of Supermarine Spitfires, in 1943, and was subsequently taken over by the United States Army Air Forces, then the air component of the United States Army. The Twelfth Air Force used the airport as a base for the following units: 79th Fighter Group, January 1944 – May 1944, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt 47th Bombardment Group, 22 March 1944 – 25 April 1944, Douglas A-20 Havoc 33rd Fighter Group, 15 April 1944 – 28 May 1944, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt 332nd Fighter Group, 15 April 1944 – 28 March 1944, Bell P-39 Airacobra After the combat units were withdrawn, the Air Transport Command began using the airport as a major hub for cargo aircraft and for the transit of aircraft and personnel returning from operations.