Milan Malpensa airport sees China as golden opportunity

MILAN, Italy - The Italian airport of Milan Malpensa was looking at Chinese partnerships as a "golden opportunity" for development, Pietro Modiano, President of SEA, the management firm of Milan's airports, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Milan Malpensa airport was going through important renovations with the aim to boost its role as one of the major hubs in Europe also in view of the upcoming Milan Expo 2015, Modiano said.

Terminal 1 will have a total surface area of 350,000 square meters and up to 270 check-in desks. The feather in the cap will be the new shopping area, one of the largest in Europe, accessible to all passengers whether travelling to a Schengen or a non-Schengen destination.

Security services and infrastructures throughout the airport will be also upgraded.

Milan Malpensa, which is located in the heart of Italy's most heavily developed area and within a close radius of art cities and natural beauties, is one of the main cargo airports in Europe, also benefiting from its strategic location close to important industrial areas of Switzerland and France.

Modiano noted that Milan Malpensa, being strongly efficient but overstaffed in respect to the national needs, has "the potential to receive huge increase in traffic."

Therefore, in addition to Europe the Italian airport was looking with considerable interest at development towards its West.

"Thanks to its fortunate geographical position, Milan Malpensa is a strategic point of departure for Europe, Africa as well as the American East Coast," Modiano stressed.

In this schema, Milan Malpensa has made his bid for receiving the new tourism and business flows from Asia.

"Milan Malpensa can be an ideal hub for China's airline companies flying both to European countries and to a number of other destinations," the president explained to Xinhua.

Passenger traffic to and from China constantly increased from 269,000 in 2008 to 751,000 last year, according to data from Milan Malpensa. The figure was expected to expand during the Milan Expo, which will take place from May 1 to Oct 31, 2015.

Milan Malpensa has direct flights run by Air China and Cathay Pacific to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. Operations out of these major hubs allow travelers to then connect to other domestic destinations.

The airport was also developing negotiations with other Chinese carriers to start new connections.

"We have put particular focus on China as we expect a huge increase in demand for air transport, which will open enormous possibilities for all countries," Modiano said.

"My personal goal as the SEA president is convincing one or more Chinese airlines that having one of the most beautiful airports in the world, located in an ideal place to reach important destinations, is a golden opportunity," he highlighted.

In order to be more receptive to Chinese travelers, Milan Malpensa has launched the "Chinese Friendly Airport" project aimed at improving the travel experience of Chinese tourists en route to and from Milan.

Some of the initiatives already in place included the installation of signage in Chinese throughout the airport and an app in Chinese, Modiano noted.

The knowledge of the Chinese language and culture was the starting point as well as the strategic asset to make passengers "feel Italy like home," he pointed out.

Furthermore, the president said he had the dream to include a customs facility at Milan Malpensa airport allowing China bound passengers to undertake all security and customs inspections in Milan prior to departure.