Ground handler dnata is preparing to put four fully electric Cobus VEGA apron buses into service at Rome Fiumicino Airport by mid-November. The vehicles will carry passengers between terminals and aircraft, adding to the company’s electric fleet at one of its three Italian airport locations.
According to dnata, it will be the first ground handler to deploy the new Cobus model. The buses were developed specifically for airport apron operations. Dnata says they offer higher passenger capacity than conventional airport buses, while redesigned doors are intended to speed up boarding and alighting. Improved air conditioning is also cited as a comfort feature. The company did not disclose battery capacity, range or charging power.
Fleet context
The four vehicles will expand the bus fleet at Fiumicino beyond its current 40 units. Of those, 23 are already electrically powered. Dnata expects the new buses to make apron handling more efficient and help keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible. The airport buses are used to move passengers between terminal buildings and aircraft stands, so their boarding arrangements and capacity are directly relevant to how quickly those movements can be completed.
Wider modernisation
The purchase forms part of a 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 at 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 list covers both passenger transport and the wider chain of apron support equipment.
Across the three Italian airports, dnata operates more than 1,000 motorised ground handling equipment units. More than 60 per cent of these are now electrically powered. Where full electrification is not yet operationally feasible, the company is gradually converting diesel-powered equipment to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).
Charging and scale
Dnata says further electrification will also depend on the expansion of charging infrastructure at the airports. It is working with the respective airport operators to achieve this. That means the pace of further fleet conversion is linked to infrastructure decisions made with the airport operators, rather than to vehicle procurement alone.
In Italy, dnata employs around 5,000 people and serves more than 60 airlines. At its three locations, it handles over 150,000 flights, 46 million passengers and nearly 18 million pieces of baggage annually. The four new buses are a limited addition compared with the more than 1,000 motorised units dnata operates in the country, but they extend a fleet strategy in which a majority of that equipment is already electric.