With passenger habits constantly changing over recent months Italy’s Milan Bergamo has been working hard alongside its stakeholders to improve its service and product offering.
“We have noticed that domestic travel has become an even more important market as people look to discover their now nation as a result of continuous border control changes imposed by government,” said Giacomo Cattaneo, Director Commercial Aviation, SACBO. “As a result, and in response to demand, Ryanair has added additional frequencies on its routes to Bari, Catania, Naples and Palermo from the start of October. Collectively this extra capacity will result in 12 further departures per week to these four destinations.”
The airport has also noted that passenger numbers are starting to rise. Back in April at the peak of the virus the Italian hub had close to zero passengers. In June it saw just 3% of the passengers handled during the same month in 2019. The in July there was a spike in traffic with the airport transporting 24% of the passengers compared to the same period in the previous year. “The outlook for August was even more positive as we tried to return to the levels of traffic seen before,” said Cattaneo.
“This shows that the appetite to fly from Milan Bergamo is coming back , and we continue to remain optimistic as we work with our airline partners to restore services.”
Along with Ryanair’s domestic growth, Volotea will continue to serve its route to Olbia, with some frequencies on the typically summer route into the winter season. Meanwhile, Pegasus Airlines has increased its Istanbul Sabihia Gokcen frequency to five times weekly, improving connectivity to Turkey’s largest city and beyond.
Demonstrating its resilience, the airport is continuing to invest in infrastructure with work in progress to complete is new extra-Schengen arrivals area, which is due for completion by the end of October. Alongside the infrastructure development, an extension to the west of the existing terminal is picking up pace which, when it is completed in August 2021, will be a new Schengen departure area with additional gates on the upper floor, plus an extensions of the Schengen arrivals area with more baggage carousels on the lower floor.
With passenger more aware of their personal space, the airport has also seen increased interest in its premium products, such as fast-track security and premium lounges. Interest is also picking up for BGY TOP, the meet and greet service offered by Milan Bergamo to pamper arriving and departing passengers seeking out a fully dedicated service.
