Airport Handling has been awarded a seven-year ground handling license by Aeroporti di Roma and will establish operations at Rome Fiumicino Airport.
The company, a majority-owned subsidiary of dnata, is aiming to launch operations in the Italian capital in the second quarter of 2024.
It will provide a range of high quality, safe ramp and passenger services to airlines in Rome and has already committed an investment of over €20mn to purchase new ground support equipment – including advanced electric vehicles.
Having recruited a local senior management team, which is very familiar with the Rome market, Airport Handling is hoping to employ over 1,800 customer-oriented aviation professionals at the airport.
Airport Handling’s expansion into Rome further strengthens its position as a leading air services provider in Italy, it said.
A partner of over 60 airlines, the company’s dedicated teams already handle more than 22 million passengers and 82,000 flights annually at the two Milan airports, Malpensa and Linate.
Alberto Morosi, CEO of Airport Handling, said: “We are proud to have secured an operating license at another leading Italian airport as a result of a highly competitive tender process.
“Expanding into Rome Fiumicino is a significant milestone that aligns with our growth strategy and underlines our commitment to consistently enhancing our operations.
“We look forward to working with the airport to deliver high quality and safe services for our airline customers and their passengers travelling to or through Rome.”
The majority stakeholder of Airport Handling is dnata, a global player in the combined air services industry, which operates at over 120 airports globally.
Besides its ground handling business, dnata also provides catering and retail services at all major Italian airports, including Rome Fiumicino.
Serving over 300 airline customers, dnata’s teams handled more than 710,000 aircraft turns, moved over 2.7 million tonnes of cargo and uplifted 111.4 million meals in the 2022-23 financial year.
Image credit: Matteo Mezzalira
