Dnata is preparing to put four fully electric apron buses into service at Rome Fiumicino Airport by mid-November, adding Cobus VEGA vehicles to its passenger transport fleet. The ground handler said it would be the first company in its sector to deploy the new model.
The buses are designed specifically for airport aprons, where they carry passengers between terminals and aircraft. Dnata said the VEGA offers more passenger capacity than conventional airport buses. It also cited redesigned doors intended to speed boarding and alighting, along with improved air conditioning for passenger comfort. The company did not disclose battery capacity, range or charging power.
Fleet and electrification
With the four additions, Fiumicino’s bus fleet will grow beyond its current 40 vehicles. Twenty-three of those are already electric, so the four new buses will raise the electric share further. Dnata expects the new buses to make apron handling more efficient and help keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible.
The purchase sits within a wider modernisation programme covering dnata’s Italian operations. Over the past three years, the company has invested more than €30 million at Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate. That spending has brought in more than 550 new ground handling equipment units.
The equipment includes passenger buses as well as baggage tractors, conveyor belts, passenger stairs, aircraft loaders and pushback tractors. Across the three airports, dnata now operates more than 1,000 motorised ground handling units, with more than 60% powered by electricity. The figures cover a mixed fleet, showing that electrification extends beyond the passenger buses.
For equipment that cannot yet be fully electrified in operation, dnata is gradually converting diesel-powered units to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).
Dnata said further electrification will depend on expanding charging infrastructure at the airports. It is working with the relevant airport operators on that requirement. That makes charging expansion a condition for further fleet conversion.
Italian scale
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 scheduled to enter service by mid-November. Dnata’s Italian fleet figures show that more than 60% of its motorised ground handling equipment is already electric, while the company continues to replace diesel units with HVO where full electrification is not yet operationally feasible.