Vehicles & Transportation

Dnata to deploy four Cobus VEGA electric apron buses at Rome Fiumicino

Astrid BerglundNovember 3, 20265 min read0 views

At a glance

  • The ground handler says it will be the first to operate the purpose-built VEGA model, adding to a Fiumicino bus fleet in which 23 of 40 vehicles are already electric.
  • dnata is putting four battery-electric Cobus VEGA apron buses into service at Rome Fiumicino from mid-November, part of a modernisation programme worth more than €30 million in which over 60% of its 1,000-plus Italian ground support units are now electric. The company says further electrification depends on airport charging capacity.
A concept illustration of an electric apron passenger bus with open doors waiting at an airport terminal gate, with an aircraft and travellers in the background.

Ground handler dnata is adding four fully electric apron buses to its fleet at Rome Fiumicino Airport, with the vehicles scheduled to enter service by mid-November. The buses are the VEGA model built by Cobus, and dnata says it will be the first ground handling company to deploy this model.

The vehicles are designed specifically for apron work, carrying passengers between terminals and aircraft. According to dnata, they offer higher passenger capacity than conventional airport buses, while redesigned doors are intended to speed up boarding and alighting. Improved air conditioning is cited as a further comfort gain. The company has not disclosed battery capacity, range or charging power for the new buses.

Fleet and investment context

The four additions expand a bus fleet at Fiumicino that currently numbers 40 vehicles, of which 23 are already electrically powered. dnata frames the deployment around apron efficiency, arguing that higher capacity and faster boarding help keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible.

The purchase sits inside a broader modernisation programme. Over the past three years dnata has invested more than €30 million at Rome Fiumicino and at Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate, acquiring over 550 new ground handling equipment units. Those include passenger buses as well as 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 equipment units, over 60% of which 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) as an interim measure.

Charging infrastructure as a constraint

dnata says further electrification also depends on the expansion of charging infrastructure at the airports, and that it is working with the respective airport operators to achieve this. That qualification sets a limit on how quickly the remaining diesel-powered share of the fleet can be replaced, independently of vehicle availability.

Italy is a substantial market for the handler, which employs around 5,000 people there and serves more than 60 airlines. At its three Italian locations the company handles over 150,000 flights, 46 million passengers and nearly 18 million pieces of baggage each year.

Reported by Astrid Berglund, Vehicle Cargo and Roof System Analyst.