Vehicles & Transportation

dnata to add four Cobus VEGA electric apron buses at Rome Fiumicino

Nerea ValdesNovember 3, 20265 min read0 views

At a glance

  • The ground handler's first VEGA-model buses are due to start moving passengers between terminals and aircraft in mid-November, joining 23 electric buses already in service at the airport.
  • dnata is adding four battery-electric Cobus VEGA apron buses at Rome Fiumicino from mid-November, taking its bus fleet there beyond 40 vehicles, 23 of which are already electric. The order sits inside a three-year Italian modernisation programme worth more than €30 million and covering over 550 new ground handling units, though dnata says further electrification depends on airport charging infrastructure.
A low-floor electric apron bus waits at a terminal gate as ground staff guide it, with a baggage tractor and belt loader working nearby in early-morning light.

Ground handler dnata is expanding its fleet at Rome Fiumicino Airport with four fully electric apron buses from manufacturer Cobus, extending a series of electrification investments the company has made in Italy. The VEGA-model vehicles are due to enter service by mid-November and will carry passengers between terminals and aircraft; according to dnata, it will be the first ground handling provider to deploy the model.

The buses were developed specifically for use on airport aprons, where they shuttle travellers between terminal buildings and aircraft stands. dnata says the vehicles offer a higher passenger capacity than conventional airport buses, that redesigned doors are intended to speed up boarding and alighting, and that improved air conditioning adds to passenger comfort. The company did not disclose battery capacity, range or charging power. The stated advantages — capacity, door layout and climate control — are all aimed at that routine shuttle work.

Fleet growth at Fiumicino

The four new vehicles take the bus fleet at Fiumicino beyond its current 40 units, of which 23 are already electrically powered. dnata frames the addition as a way to make apron handling more efficient and to keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible. In volume terms the order is modest: four vehicles against a bus fleet of more than 40 at a single airport.

Part of a three-year modernisation programme

The order is one element of a modernisation programme in 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, a category that includes passenger buses along with baggage tractors, conveyor belts, passenger stairs, aircraft loaders and pushback tractors. The investment total and the equipment count cover all three airports, not Fiumicino alone.

Across the three Italian airports dnata operates more than 1,000 motorised ground handling equipment units, of which more than 60 per cent 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 (HVO).

Charging capacity shapes the pace

How far the fleet conversion can go depends on infrastructure beyond the vehicles themselves. dnata says further electrification is tied to the expansion of charging facilities at the airports, and that it is working with the respective airport operators to achieve this. Charging capacity is the constraint the company names itself, linking further electrification to infrastructure build-out agreed with those operators.

In Italy, dnata employs around 5,000 people across its ground handling operations 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 annually.

Reported by Nerea Valdes, Exterior Accessories and Weathering Editor.