Ground handler dnata is preparing to add four electric apron buses from manufacturer Cobus to its operation at Rome Fiumicino Airport, with the vehicles scheduled to begin carrying passengers between terminals and aircraft in mid-November. The buses are the VEGA model, which Cobus has developed specifically for airport aprons. According to dnata, it will be the first ground handler to put the new model into service.
The vehicles are designed for passenger transfer across the apron rather than public-road operation. Dnata says they offer higher passenger capacity than conventional airport buses. Redesigned doors are intended to speed boarding and alighting, and improved air conditioning is meant to raise passenger comfort. The company did not disclose battery capacity, range or charging power, leaving the operational specifications of the four buses outside the announcement.
Fleet expansion at Fiumicino
The four additions will take the bus fleet at Fiumicino beyond its current 40 vehicles. Of those existing buses, 23 are already electrically powered. Dnata says the new buses are intended to make apron handling more efficient and help keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible. The planned entry into service follows the company's broader effort to replace or supplement diesel equipment at Italian airports.
That programme has involved more than €30 million of investment over the past three years. During that period, dnata acquired more than 550 new ground handling equipment units at Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate. The equipment list includes passenger buses as well as baggage tractors, conveyor belts, passenger stairs, aircraft loaders and pushback tractors. The purchases therefore cover several parts of the turnaround process, not only passenger transport.
Across the three Italian airports, dnata operates more than 1,000 motorised ground handling equipment units. More than 60% of them are now electrically powered, according to the company. For equipment where full electrification is not yet operationally feasible, dnata is gradually converting diesel-powered units to run on hydrotreated vegetable oil, or HVO. That approach keeps some liquid-fuel equipment in the fleet while the company expands battery-electric operations where it can.
Charging infrastructure as a condition
Dnata says further electrification depends on the expansion of charging infrastructure at the airports. The company is working with the respective airport operators on that requirement. This makes charging capacity a practical condition for scaling up electric ground support equipment, alongside vehicle availability and operational needs.
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 Fiumicino deployment adds a passenger-transfer electric bus type at Fiumicino, while dnata's wider electric share covers motorised ground handling equipment across the three airports.