Ground handling company dnata is preparing to add four fully electric apron buses to its operation at Rome Fiumicino Airport. The VEGA-model vehicles, supplied by Cobus, are scheduled to begin carrying passengers between terminals and aircraft in mid-November.
Dnata said it would be the first ground handler to put the new Cobus model into service. The buses were developed specifically for airport aprons, where they move passengers between terminal buildings and parked aircraft. Compared with conventional airport buses, the company says the VEGA offers higher passenger capacity. Redesigned doors are intended to make boarding and alighting faster, while revised air conditioning is meant to improve passenger comfort.
Dnata did not disclose battery capacity, driving range or charging power for the four vehicles.
At Fiumicino, the four additions will increase a bus fleet that currently numbers 40 vehicles. Twenty-three of those buses are already electric before the new vehicles enter service. Dnata says the vehicles are intended to make apron handling more efficient and help keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible. The four buses are due to enter service in mid-November, according to the company.
The purchase forms part of a broader modernisation programme. Over the past three years, dnata has invested more than €30 million in new ground handling equipment at Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate. More than 550 new units have been acquired across the three airports, including passenger buses, baggage tractors, conveyor belts, passenger stairs, aircraft loaders and pushback tractors. The equipment covers passenger transport as well as baggage handling, boarding and aircraft ground support.
Across the three Italian airports, dnata operates more than 1,000 motorised ground handling equipment units. More than 60% of that fleet is now electrically powered, according to the company. For equipment that cannot yet be fully electrified in day-to-day operations, dnata is gradually converting diesel-powered units to run on hydrotreated vegetable oil, or HVO. The company is taking this step where full electrification is not yet operationally feasible.
The pace of further electrification will depend partly on the availability of charging infrastructure at the airports. Dnata says it is working with the relevant airport operators on that expansion. The company employs around 5,000 people in Italy and serves more than 60 airlines. At its three Italian locations, it handles over 150,000 flights, 46 million passengers and nearly 18 million pieces of baggage each year.