Milano Malpensa reopened Terminal 1

On Monday 15 June, Terminal 1 of Milan Malpensa was back in operation and Terminal 2 closed, the only airport infrastructure in Lombardy which, since 16 March following the Covid-19 health emergency, has continued to guarantee, on an ongoing basis, connections for passengers and the circulation of goods within our country. The move to Terminal 1 became necessary following the increase in flights offered by airlines, which, starting on June 3, led to a slight recovery in traffic, which from 3,000 passengers in the week from 6 to 12 April (down 99.5%, a negative historical record for the Lombardy airport system), increased to 22,396 in the week from June 1 to 7 (down 96.9%).

Considering the current number of passengers, which is expected to increase in the coming weeks, the spaces inside Terminal 2 are no longer suitable to ensure effective enforcement of the safety rules requiring a social distance of at least one metre between passengers.

Malpensa Terminal 1 is operational, in full compliance with the health regulations for passengers and airport operators and is among the European airports, together with Paris Charles de Gaulle, Nice, Frankfurt, Brussels, Athens and Madrid, which are participating in the project launched by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the implementation and monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures established by EASA and the Authorities of the respective countries.

According to Enac’s directives, in fact, at Malpensa new methods of access to the terminal have been introduced, as well as ad hoc routes to regulate the flow of passengers and make their stay at the airport as safe as possible. At the entrance of the terminal, body temperature monitoring is carried out by means of a thermoscanners. The checkpoints are at entrances 13 and 19 on the departure floor of Terminal 1. For the Terminal 1 arrivals, instead, checks are carried out at doors 2 and 7 and on floor -1 for those arriving from the multi-storey car parks and the railway station. If the device measures fever symptoms above 37 and a half, a medical examination is required. Exit from the terminal is allowed at departure floor from doors 16 and 17 and at arrival floor from doors 4 and 8.

Inside the terminal, all passengers have to wear personal protective equipment and it is mandatory to respect social distancing and all rules of behaviour to avoid contagion as much as possible. 

These measures are in addition to all the other initiatives already taken by the management company to ensure maximum safety from a hygiene and health point of view. Sanitization activities are carried out on the entire airport perimeter, both in the internal areas (check-in counters, metal detectors, containers for objects, waiting seats, escalator handrails, toilets and elevators) and, if necessary, in the external areas. Over 250 sanitizing gel dispensers have been installed.

SEA has also carried out a communication campaign present at the airport and addressed to all passengers, calling for compliance with all those prevention rules that are essential to preserve our and other people’s health and to fly safely.

“We are noticing slight signs of recovery – commented Armando Brunini, CEO of SEA – and we hope that with the end of traffic restrictions within the Schengen area we can have a further recovery of traffic, even if we know that to return to the levels before the Covid-19 we should wait a few years.

I would like to thank all colleagues and all other airport operators and entities – concluded the CEO of SEA – who in this period, even in extremely complicated working conditions, have guaranteed the operation of Malpensa, ensuring the essential connections for passengers, cargo and all health aid that have helped to fight the most acute phase of the emergency in these last months”.