With the scope of transforming Linate and Malpensa in green, sustainable airports, thus paving the way towards the 2050 net zero emissions goal defined by the EU, a member of ClimOP consortium, SEA, has included the reduction of its scope 1 and 2 emissions in the 2020-2040 business plan.
Electric Mobility lands at Milan Airports: apron shuttle buses and car fleet
Over time, SEA plans to make its fleet of apron shuttle buses fully electric and zero emissions for both airports, Linate and Malpensa. The first step is the purchase, planned for 2021, of three e-Cobus 3002 to be placed in Malpensa, and grow up to 13 in the next few years. The finalization of the purchase will depend on the results of the environmental and operational performance assessments.
From an environmental point of view, the e-Cobus 3002 is 100% electric and therefore zero-emission.
Each diesel cobus of those that currently form the fleet consumes 11,000 litres of diesel per year, while each e-cobus 3002 will consume 48,000 kWh. This will guarantee both a reduction of CO2 and Nox emissions and a reduction of noise emissions. Additionally, these buses employ long-lasting batteries, that are easier to dispose of at the end of their life cycle, thus safeguarding the environment. The evaluation of the e-cobus 3002 from an operational point of view will be carried out in terms of timing: one evaluation criteria will be the total autonomy of the vehicle in terms of working hours, the other the full charging time (which should take place during the night, when no passenger transportation is foreseen).
The number of electric buses will grow gradually. SEA has planned to use a 10-year operating rental formula so that its fleet will constantly follow the evolution of new technologies in terms of environmental and operational performance. In parallel to renewing its fleet of apron shuttle buses dedicated to the transportation of passengers, SEA plans to renew, by the end of 2022, a large part of both airports fleet of long-term rental cars by replacing the 80% of traditionally-fuelled cars with electrically powered cars and hybrid plug-in cars. With the purpose of reducing the fleet of rental cars by 20%, thus also limiting rental costs, SEA has implemented a corporate car sharing plan, for example for travelling from one airport to another.
To date, the SEA’s fleet of long-term rental cars consists of around 250 vehicles, 20 of them are electric cars positioned in Malpensa and hired at the beginning of 2014. The employees use this cars for movements within the Malpensa Apron, where six charging columns for these cars are available.
Sustainable access to Milan Airports
SEA is working as an active stakeholder to foster sustainable access to Milan airports, promoting the realisation of new transport infrastructure, new mobility services and the improvement of the existing ones, to make both Milan Airports intermodal hubs integrated into the local, regional, national and international transport network. Furthermore, SEA is implementing initiatives and instruments to encourage a change in mobility behaviour of both passengers and airport employees, promoting shared, electric and soft mobility and facilitating daily commuting to/from airports.
Corporate carpooling for airports’ employees
One of the instruments that SEA decided to test in order to foster a more sustainable surface access of SEA’s employees and operators of all companies to both Milan Airports is a corporate carpooling service¹, launched through a pilot project within “LAirA” (Landside Airport Accessibility) project. “LAirA” is an Interreg Central Europe funded project which addresses the multimodal, smart and low carbon mobility integration of airports in the mobility systems of Functional Urban Areas.
The service adopted by SEA within the European project, both app- and web-based, allows employees to find colleagues and employees of other companies of the Milan Airports system to share their own car for home-to-work daily trips, based on compatibility of work time/shifts and itinerary. The service provides the estimated cost of a shared ride and the amount of CO2 emissions saved per trip. Employees who certify the highest number of shared rides receive fuel vouchers as a reward.
SEA sustains the car-pooling pilot with own funds also after the LAirA project ends, to evaluate the project longer-term sustainability and results. On February, in addition to incentive plans to promote the ride-sharing by car, SEA has launched incentives to promote also cycling to work, in particular for employees working at Linate, the city airport close to Milan.
Table 1. Carpooling KPIs for Milan Airports
Table 2. Cycling to Milan Linate Airport
Data of the last three months reflect the Covid-19 pandemic spread, that resulted in lockdown and almost reset commuting trips.
Projects for e-mobility
SEA aims to increase the landside recharging offer, extending the existing electric charging infrastructure at both Linate and Malpensa car parks. Furthermore, Linate airport will have its “Smart Mobility Area”, a sustainable mobility dedicated area within the new intermodal hub for interchange with new M4 subway. This area will offer electric charging systems and other innovative technologies, to encourage shared and sustainable mobility.
Milan Airports travel planner with CO2 calculator to foster sustainable accessibility to airports
In order to enhance sustainable access to airports, fostering passengers to choose public transport and reduce the use of private cars, Milan Airports developed a tool² that helps passengers to plan their journey to and from the airports. The service provides passengers with information about all solutions and modes of transport available, real-time information about ground transportation and accessibility to airports. This tool allows them to combine different options according to their specific needs in terms of cost, travel time, comfort and attention to environmental aspects.
The tool proposes the greenest and most sustainable solutions in terms of CO2 emissions to reach the airports. In general, it suggests using public transport or other transport solutions that are more environmentally sustainable than driving. This will also improve the whole passenger travel experience, thanks to seamless, integrated and more sustainable journeys.
¹ Bring me s.r.l. provides the Jojob corporate carpooling service, after a preliminary analysis of carpooling operators in Italy and a tender procedure, according to procurement rules.
² The Interreg Central Europe Programme part-funded the functionality within the LAirA project.
