Fiumicino and Linate on the roof of Europe: why Italy boasts the best airports
Sustainability, seamless travel, safety, innovation and top services. Italy is confirmed as a leading country in airport management, especially in [...]
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Sustainability, seamless travel, safety, innovation and top services. Italy confirms itself as a leading country in airport management, especially when it comes to airports with an international scope. In fact, this year, as many as three Italian airports won the Aci Europe Best Airport Award 2023: Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate and Bologna.
What are the Aci Europe Best Airport Awards
The winners were chosen, as every year, by a panel of international industry experts including Aviation Advocacy, Ecac, European Commission, Flight Global, International Airport Review, International Transport Forum and SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking. The award ceremony took place in recent hours during the gala dinner of theAci Europe-World Annual General Assembly (Waga) in Barcelona, Spain.
Aci Europe's awards are divided into five groups based on passenger traffic recorded in the previous year. In this case, however, the reference is still made with respect to 2019 capacity (the last year before the pandemic).
The official categories are: less than 5 million passengers, category 5-10 million, 10 to 25 million, category 25-40 million and the last one, for large hubs, over 40 million of pax.
Finally, this year, the following were also present five special categories related to the following themes: Accessibility, Digital Transformation, Eco-Innovation, Human Resources, and World Business Partner.
Fiumicino's confirmation
The five stars received by Skytrax and the streak that has seen Fiumicino win Europe's best airport award for service quality for six years. The Leonardo da Vinci was literally transformed for the better in recent years and gets a unanimous rating of excellence from travelers, tour operators, airlines and industry experts.
From the new scanners to the security checks (which avoid the age-old problem of liquids and removing computers and electronic devices from suitcases), to the various redesigns of the new boarding areas (the latest being T1's Pier A) via the three lounges inaugurated in just a few months (the'Hangar of Ita, the Plaza Premium Lounge e the Primeclass) and intermodal service with trains from Fco Connect and the service Qpass For fast track at security checkpoints.
In addition to all this, the Italian (and Ita Airways') hub continues to pursue projects related to innovation, sustainability, and land-side services (marketing) and offerings to all passengers.
Also for this reason, Rome Fiumicino won the award as best european airport in the large hub category (over 40 million passengers) for the fifth consecutive year, beating even some big players Istanbul, Barcelona El Prat and Madrid Barajas (all three received honorable mentions).
"The airport has put innovation and sustainability at the heart of its ambitious strategy to achieve zero net C02 emissions by 2030. Through its investment in the Innovation Hub, the airport plans to fund projects such as "Innovative Cabin Crew." Cooperation with internal and external stakeholders, including start-ups and other businesses, continues to promote creative problem solving. The airport was also the first in the world to issue a'bond linked to sustainability, a pioneering solution to achieve green commitments," Aci Europe points out in the justification for the win.
In fact, Aci Europe's evaluation criteria focused on operational resilience and sustainability in the context of recovery from Covid-19. Rome Airports, the airport's management company, has indeed aimed for the target of Net Zero Emission in 2030, twenty years ahead of what has been set at the European airport sector level, in addition to the company's goal in defining a path that makes the development of aviation compatible with environmental protection through the Pact for decarbonization Of air transport.
Other interventions include the aforementioned intermodality and the spread of the Saf (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) and renewable energy production with the construction of the largest self-consumption photovoltaic system in a European airport, which will be placed parallel to runway No. 3 at Leonardo da Vinci.
On the innovation front, however, the implementation in the airport of the Innovation Hub dedicated to start-ups, the launch of the second call4ideas, the establishment of the Corporate Venture Capital "ADR Ventures" and the development of urban air mobility services with the launch of the first connections of the vertical take-off electric aircraft between the airport and Rome as early as 2024.
Linate's victory
The airport of Milan Linate, business city airport par excellence, has proven to recover very well after the pandemic crisis and remains a point of excellence for international flights in Europe, despite una set of regulations limit Forlanini's operations. only to European routes with single-aisle aircraft.
Again, however, the passenger services, the latest generation of scanners for baggage, self check-in stations, and work on sustainability and innovation have taken Linate to the top in Europe.
Another key aspect, then, is that of "green" accessibility to the airport thanks to the recent arrival of the subway line directly to Forlanini.
Thus Linate achieved victory as the best airport in the 5-10 million passenger category, which has distinguished itself in its commitment to sustainability by achieving Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 4+ and its commitment to achieving zero net Co2 emissions by 2030.
Finally, among the reasons listed by Aci Europe are again investments in the choice of alternative fuels (Saf and hydrogen) and on Urban Air Mobility.
"The judges praised its passenger-centered approach with its commitment to providing a seamless journey and safe for passengers by investing in innovative solutions such as the explosive detection systems for carry-on baggage (EDS-CB) and FaceBoarding services," recalls Aci Europe.
EDS-CB (Explosives Detection Systems for Cabin Baggage) machines employ technology that increases the effectiveness of security screening through automatic explosives detection and allows both liquids and electronic equipment to be kept in luggage.
The system FaceBoarding, finally, Allows the passenger to associate the biometric face print with the ID and boarding pass without then having to show any documents until boarding the plane.
Special award for Bologna
Bologna Airport finally won within the special category for excellence in human resources.
"The award honors an airport human resource department that is implementing world-class practices and processes to develop the industry's workforce. This year, special attention was paid to the social pillar of sustainability - underlines the Aci Europe note - A winner in this category was Bologna Airport, which stood out for its excellent alignment between strategy of human management and business strategy, creating a positive synergy between the two."
All other top airports
In the category of small airports (under 5 million pax), two purely tourist island airports won ex-equo: Madeira in Portugal and Menorca in Spain. Instead, he wins. Helsinki regarding the 10-25 million passenger category, with a special mention for Porto.
Finally, for the 25-40 million passenger segment, the award was given to the'Athens airport with mentions of airports in Brussels and Oslo.
The award for the best accessible airport for people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility was won by the airport of Alicante (Spain); while for Digital Transformation the following was awarded. the Prague airport with a special mention for Roma Fiumicino as well. Finally, the World Business Partner Award was given to the company Smiths Detection, specializing in airport security systems.
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