Malpensa Airport - Ground Handling

Ground Handling

Ground handling services have been slowly deregulated and have seen SEA (the airport authority) create SEA Handling and the arrival of private handler ATA Handling. ATA Handling provides all services apart from bus transport to/from aircraft (originally subcontracted to SEA Handling, now subcontracted to Air Pullman) and disabled assistance. Up to 2001 all ground handling services were provided by SEA and TWA. In the first few years of deregulation some airlines put their own staff for customer assistance but Air One and British Airways realised that it was too expensive and so dismissed them. United Airlines stopped flying to Malpensa. To date the only airline with its own check-in staff remains KLM. Passenger handling is provided by SEA Handling, ATA Handling, Aviapartner, Globeground Italia and ICTS Italia. Ramp services are provided by SEA Handling, ATA and recently Aviapartner. SEA Handling provides 80% of ramp services mostly thanks to its major customer Alitalia.

In May 2006, Italy's Civil Aviation Authority took off the limitation of two ramp handlers. Aviapartner and ARE Group announced that they would create a new company called Aviapartner (owned 51% by Aviapartner and 49% ARE Group) to serve Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino. There are fears that luggage mishandling will go up.

Aviapartner has started operating serving Iberia flights and signing more contracts as time has gone on. However, SEA Handling maintains a dominant position and is reorganising itself to be more competitive by going from a monopolistic mentality to a free market one.