Dnata is preparing to deploy four fully electric Cobus VEGA apron buses at Rome Fiumicino Airport, with service scheduled to begin by mid-November. The ground handler said the vehicles will carry passengers between terminals and aircraft and that it will be the first ground handling company to operate this model. That first-use claim is dnata’s own, and no independent confirmation was provided.
The buses were developed for airport apron duty rather than public-road operation. According to dnata, they offer higher passenger capacity than conventional airport buses. Redesigned doors are intended to speed boarding and alighting, while improved air conditioning is meant to raise passenger comfort. Dnata did not disclose battery capacity, range or charging power, leaving key operational performance figures unavailable.
At Fiumicino, the four additions will expand the bus fleet beyond its current 40 vehicles. Twenty-three of those buses are already electric, according to the company. Dnata expects the new vehicles to make apron handling more efficient and to help keep aircraft turnaround times as short as possible. Those are stated intentions rather than measured results, and the announcement does not quantify the expected improvement.
The order is part of a broader modernisation programme in Italy. Over the past three years, dnata has invested more than €30 million and acquired more than 550 new ground handling equipment units at Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate. The equipment includes passenger buses, 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 units, and more than 60% of them are now electrically powered. Where full electrification is not yet operationally feasible, the company is gradually converting diesel equipment to hydrotreated vegetable oil, or HVO. The announcement does not specify how many units run on HVO or what share of total energy use that represents.
Dnata said further electrification will depend on expanding charging infrastructure at the airports, and that it is working with the relevant airport operators on that issue. In Italy, the company 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 each year.
The figures describe scale rather than the outcome of the electric bus deployment. They also show that electrification is being pursued alongside other fuel measures, not as a complete replacement across every equipment category.