Milan-Linate is once again ready to welcome passengers for the IATA winter season. The Milan hub, generally favoured by business travellers as it is only 20 minutes from the centre of the city, is now ready to welcome passengers for the IATA winter season. Lombardy metropolisThe airport closed for three months to repair the runway and modernise the baggage sorting system. The investment cost nearly 22 million euros. For three months, some 330 aircraft movements were re-routed daily to Milan-Malpensa.
At the same time, work continued on renovating the terminal building. This began in 2017 with a new façade covering the terminal and the launch of the interior refurbishment works. The aim of the complete renovation of Milan-Linate is to make the hub the most " the most stylish and technologically innovative urban airport in Europe "according to SEAthe airport company that manages Milan's airports. The renovation project is scheduled for completion at the end of the first half of 2021.
The cost of the project will then reach 60 million eurosThis is a necessary sum for an airport that has not been rehabilitated for several years. 25 years olddespite traffic of more than 9 million passengers Linate is Italy's fifth busiest hub. 49% of traffic goes to Europe, the rest being purely domestic.
The authorities are now working on renovating the boarding lounges and creating a new shopping area with around twenty shops and restaurants. The airport will also be equipped with new, faster baggage screening machines, as well as biometric installations to speed up the passenger experience, both at police checkpoints and in the boarding lounge. On 5 November, Armando Brunini, CEO of SEA, confirmed on stage at theEuro Air Transport IT Summit organised in Lisbon by SITA, confirmed that Milan airport has major ambitions in the field of biometric technologies, with the imminent introduction of the "single token" concept, which could be generalised by 2022 if successful. The aim is to considerably reduce waiting times so as not to undermine the efficiency of City Airport Linate.
The reopening of the airport will enable the company to Alitaliathe main user of Linate, to reactivate its flight programme. For the winter 2019/2020 season, the carrier is offering flights to 27 destinations, including 14 domestic routes. This winter it is launching new routes from Linate to Cologne, Perugia and Stuttgart. To Paris, Alitalia offers four daily flights to CDG and three daily flights to Orly. In Paris, the carrier competes with easyJet.
Alitalia will also reopen its Casa Alitalia Piazza della Scala lounge in the Schengen zone on November 18 following renovation. The Leonardo VIP Lounge has been welcoming passengers from other airlines since 27 October, as has the new lounge reserved for British Airways passengers.
