Passenger traffic

Milan airports rank among the main European airport systems, with over 29 million passengers transported in 2016.
In particular, Milan system occupies 2nd place in Italy and 10th in Europe for passenger traffic volumes.

In 2016, our airports grew by more than 864,000 passengers (+3.1%) and more than 7,800 movements (+3.1%) compared to 2015. At Malpensa, the increase was 4.7% for passengers and 3.9% for movements.
Linate airport retained the same number of passengers, while recording a 1.9% increase in movements.

Performance indicators of Aviation Business of the SEA airport system

Malpensa
In 2016, our aviation sales policy at Malpensa was aimed at increasing airline connectivity to local service. As such, it was directed at acquiring new carriers and developing activities of those already operating in airports. A particular effort was made to develop Schengen traffic at Terminal 1 through new partnerships with low-cost carriers.

Number of daytime and night-time movements* (inbound and outbound) - 2016

Sales policy involves constant contact with airlines, the pursuit of new development opportunities with specific marketing tools (welcome packages, communication initiatives, participation in international events), and taking part in negotiations to revise Bilateral Agreements with a view to pursuing a wider liberalization of traffic rights, including fifth freedom rights.
Two new bilateral agreements were signed with South Korea and Qatar during the first half of 2016. The first concerns an increase in frequencies for passengers and cargo and an increase in destinations. The second involves an increase in frequencies for passengers and cargo, the increase in destinations in Italy and the stabilization of fifth freedom rights for Qatar Airways, for Doha-Malpensa-Chicago flights.
In July, a negotiation with Russian aviation authorities took place in Moscow, resulting in a new agreement to increase frequencies on routes other than Moscow and an increase in destinations.
In November, the bilateral agreement with Hong Kong was revised to include a liberalization of the routes table and the stabilization of the fifth freedom rights granted to the foreign party for cargo flights on Hong Kong-India-Malpensa route.
Agreements with Saudi Arabia, Australia, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Jamaica and New Zealand were also updated, and first agreements were negotiated with Bahamas, Benin and Curacao. All of these defined or increased the operational capacity of Milan, with no restriction compared to other domestic airports.
Pending the signing of a bilateral agreement, a temporary license was granted for Turkmenistan Airlines, allowing two weekly services on the Ashgabat-Milan route.

Number of arriving and departing passengers - 2016

Ryanair's arrival at Malpensa stimulated the growth of Terminal 1 without penalizing the existing traffic.
Intercontinental traffic remained largely stable (-2.0%) after the growth generated by Expo in 2015.
SEA focused on low-cost carriers for their growth capability in terms of traffic and expansion of their portfolio of destinations.
The increased competition between carriers ensures the development of new destinations and the growth of traffic required to reach the targets, thanks to lower prices benefiting users and the expansion of the catchment area of our airport system.
The presence of several low-cost carriers and the announced role as long-haul "feeders" are an opportunity for future development, especially for Malpensa.

Number of passengers by origin and destination, transfers and transit - 2016

The growth at Malpensa was partly driven by Ryanair's investments (73% of the growth, equal to 630,000 passengers) and by other carriers, including Vueling, Meridiana, Flybe and Latam, which recorded the highest growth in absolute terms. At Terminal 2, EasyJet invested with a 3.5% capacity growth and 0.5% transported growth, expanding its network with 8 new destinations.
Alitalia continued its streamlining strategy at Malpensa, exiting completely from short-medium-haul market (cancelling Malpensa-Fiumicino from February 2017) and keeping the long-haul flights to New York, Abu Dhabi and Tokyo. Despite the crisis, Turkish Airlines maintained the product structure of four daily flights to Istanbul, but reduced the unit capacity of the aircraft and frequencies to the Sabiha Gokcen secondary airport. Four new carriers started operating at Malpensa during 2016: Croatia Airlines (Zagreb), Ellinair (Thessaloniki), Atlasglobal (Istanbul) and Fly Ernest (Tirana). 13 new destinations have been added. Among these, 9 are European (Lille, Krakow, Lourdes, Zagreb, Thessaloniki, Alicante, Kalamata, Podgorica, Sibiu) and 4 are non-European (Annaba, Lagos, Accra, Kutaisi). Among the main increases in frequencies: Air Canada (from 5 weekly flights to daily), Singapore Airlines (from 5 to 6 weekly flights), Air India (from 3 to 4 weekly flights), Aeroflot (from 3 to 4 daily frequencies). Emirates continued to invest in Malpensa, positioning the A380 on Dubai's second daily frequency starting in October (in addition to the flight to New York).

Destinations of passenger traffic from Terminal 1 - 2016

Distribution of passenger traffic by geographical area in 2016 showed growth mostly in Central America (+11.8%) and Central/South Africa (+7.4%), while there was a decline towards the North America (-0.9%), the Middle East (+1.9%) and the Far East (-2.6%).

Linate
In 2016, Alitalia reconfirmed its share of Linate traffic (57.3%) recorded in 2015. Domestic traffic showed a positive trend towards Cagliari, Catania, Lamezia Terme, Alghero and Palermo, while European traffic declined on all routes, with the exception of Barcelona.

Number of arriving and departing passengers - 2016

Linate-Fiumicino shuttle fell by 13% to 1.2 million passengers. This is due to easyJet permanently eliminating the link with the capital.

Passengers by origin and destination, transfers and transit - 2016

Number of daytime and night-time movements* (inbound and outbound) - 2016