Cargo trumps passenger links
The long pandemic year has shown how vital airfreight is for aviation. Nevertheless, it often ekes out a wallflower existence with airlines or at airports. Not so in Brescia. The northern Italian location is now re-dedicating large parts of its passenger terminal.
The new cargo area at Brescia Airport should be fully operational in time for the next peak season for air cargo, as cargo director Massimo Roccasecca told the ITJ recently. To get the most out of the new facility, the officials asked the public authorities in charge of authorising activities to speed procedures up if possible, and work thus began on 1 June, a mere three working days after the airport received the green light for its project from the Italian civil aviation authority.
Now the gateway’s passenger terminal is set to be fundamentally rebuilt for a total of EUR 4 million, with EUR 2.9 million thereof set to be spent on infrastructure. The area reserved for air travellers, which previously covered 6,450 m2, will be optimised and reduced to 2,500 m2. “Most of the remaining 4,000 m2 will become a cargo warehouse with unique features, including air conditioning, dedicated loading bays and the like. Ideally, we’ll transfer existing operations to the new facility, and thus release other infrastructure capacities that we can use for new freight flows,” Roccasecca elaborated on his hub’s plans.
Strategically perpetuate the euphoric mood
In Brescia and the surrounding area, people are working hand in hand to further develop the airport’s full-freighter focus, the manager said. «The freight forwarders are already very positive. Now we need to make sure we meet the future needs of airlines too.” This includes a strong focus on cargo, as well as congestion-free operations, a broad portfolio of cargo products as well as adequate space for expansion.
Asked what he expects from the rest of this year, Roccasecca said that “we trust that after the industry ‘euphoria’, due to the pandemic and the spikes in volumes, there’ll be a season of re-assessment that will drive the market forward again. This will lead to a certain degree of volatility in volumes and routes that will make the need for new strategies clearer.” He’s confident, he added, that one of the new standards will be a more strategic approach to the differences between cargo and passenger activities, as well as the specialisations needed to deal with each sector.
