Dnata is preparing to add four electric apron buses to its ground-handling operation at Rome Fiumicino Airport, with the vehicles scheduled to enter service by mid-November. The buses are Cobus VEGA models, and dnata said it will be the first ground handler to deploy this model.
The vehicles are designed specifically for airport apron work and will carry passengers between terminals and aircraft. According to dnata, they offer higher passenger capacity than conventional airport buses. Redesigned doors are intended to speed up boarding and alighting, while improved air conditioning is meant to increase passenger comfort. The company did not provide details on battery capacity, range or charging power.
The four buses will add to an existing electric contingent at Fiumicino rather than introduce electric passenger transport at the airport for the first time. Once they are in operation, the bus fleet will grow beyond its current 40 vehicles; 23 of those are already electrically powered. Dnata said the new buses are intended to make apron handling more efficient and help keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible.
Part of a wider fleet programme
The purchase forms part of a broader modernisation programme in which dnata has invested more than €30 million over the past three years. During that period, the company acquired more than 550 new ground-handling equipment units for Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate airports. The equipment includes passenger buses as well as baggage tractors, conveyor belts, passenger stairs, aircraft loaders and pushback tractors.
The programme therefore covers both passenger transport and the equipment used for baggage, boarding and aircraft handling. Dnata operates more than 1,000 motorised ground-handling equipment units across the three Italian airports, and more than 60 per cent of them are now electrically powered. Where full electrification is not yet operationally feasible, the company is gradually converting diesel-powered equipment to run on hydrotreated vegetable oil, or HVO.
Charging infrastructure remains a condition
According to dnata, further electrification will also depend on the expansion of charging infrastructure at the airports. The company said it is working with the respective airport operators to achieve this. It did not disclose charging power for the four new buses at Fiumicino.
In Italy, dnata employs around 5,000 people and serves more than 60 airlines. At its three locations, the company handles over 150,000 flights, 46 million passengers and nearly 18 million pieces of baggage each year. That scale illustrates the size of the ground-handling operation in which the fleet upgrade is taking place.