Ground handling company dnata is preparing to add four fully electric passenger buses to its operation at Rome Fiumicino Airport. The vehicles, supplied by Cobus, are the VEGA model and are scheduled to begin transporting passengers between terminals and aircraft from mid-November.
Dnata says it will be the first ground handler to put this model into service. The buses were developed for airport apron work and are intended to carry passengers across the tarmac. Compared with conventional airport buses, dnata says the VEGA offers higher passenger capacity. Redesigned doors are meant to make boarding and alighting faster, while revised air conditioning is intended to improve comfort. The company has not released battery capacity, range or charging-power figures, so the vehicles' operating envelope cannot be compared with that of other airport buses from the announcement alone.
The four buses will expand dnata's bus fleet at Fiumicino beyond its current 40 vehicles. Twenty-three of those existing buses are already electric. Dnata expects the new vehicles to make apron handling more efficient and help keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible. It has not specified how the buses will be allocated among terminals or stands.
Part of a wider fleet renewal
The purchase sits within a modernisation programme through which dnata has invested more than €30 million over the past three years. During that period, the company has acquired more than 550 new ground handling equipment units at Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate. The equipment includes passenger buses, baggage tractors, conveyor belts, passenger stairs, aircraft loaders and pushback tractors.
Across the three Italian airports, dnata operates more than 1,000 motorised ground handling units. More than 60% of them are now electrically powered, according to the company. For equipment that cannot yet be fully electrified in operational terms, dnata is gradually switching diesel-powered units to hydrotreated vegetable oil, or HVO. That approach covers diesel units while charging capacity is built out. The Italian figures indicate that electrification is already substantial but still incomplete.
Charging infrastructure remains a condition
Dnata says further electrification will depend on expanding charging infrastructure at the airports. It is working with the relevant airport operators on that issue. The company's Italian operations employ around 5,000 people and serve more than 60 airlines. At its three locations, dnata handles over 150,000 flights, 46 million passengers and nearly 18 million pieces of baggage a year.