Milan Malpensa airport is on an upward sswing with airlines thanks to the opening of long-haul routes.
In 2024 Milan’s two airports handled 39.6 million passengers
This is an upward trend that is not destined to stop, as is confirmed in an interview in the newspaper Il Corriere della Sera with Armando Brunini, CEO of SEA Aeroporti, the company that manages Milan’s Linate and Malpensa airports. “We have pulled it off, without being the hub of a large airline.” In 2024, thanks to a boom in new connections with China the two Milan airports handled 39.6 million passengers, 11.4% more than the previous year.
“All this without having a hub carrier”
According to Brunini, “Growth will continue, but we don't expect it to be at the same pace as 2024. The demand surprises us because it resists despite everything: the fares, the tensions and fears regarding wars and geopolitics.” In particular, the CEO highlights the significant boost in capacity offered to China, where “we have gone from three to 10 destinations. While in Asia, in the last six years, we have gone from 15 to 27 destinations, which makes us fourth in Europe for the destinations reached. And all this without having a hub carrier.”
Malpensa is a money-spinner for carriers
The great attraction of Malpensa is fact that the airport is profitable for carriers: “For some companies on medium-long flights it is the European destination where they make the most money, for others it is third or fourth. And this is thanks to the population, to the GDP which is among the highest on the continent, to the good balance between incoming and outgoing flows. And Milan has also become a destination.”
Room for more US flights
The main market is still North America, with numerous carriers and connections, but not yet enough: “There's room for more.” And Brunini has his eye on cities such as Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and maybe even Washington, without forgetting Latin America with “Mexico City and Lima.”
