In the first two months of 2018, passenger traffic continued to grow, rising by 6.9% at the airports managed by the SEA Group, compared with average growth for Italian airports of 6.2%6.
The current year will continue to see passenger traffic growth, driven by the consolidation of both short-to-medium-haul and intercontinental traffic at Malpensa airport, owing in part to the gradual positioning of Air Italy, which will shift from primarily focusing on tourism to operating exclusively full-service flights to southern Italy among short-haul destinations, to Cairo and Moscow among medium-haul destinations and to New York, Miami, Bangkok, Shenzen and Lagos/Accra among intercontinental destinations.
With regard to the possible outcome of the process of selling Alitalia, which could temporarily affect traffic at Linate airport, no significant impacts are expected in 2018, also considering the airline's plans, which essentially represent the continuation of its operations in 2017.
The infrastructure development plan for 2018 includes the completion of the work begun in 2017 to restyle the Linate Terminal, further progress on the project to expand and renovate commercial areas in Malpensa Terminal 2 to include two additional gates, the continuing restyling of Malpensa Terminal 1 (arrivals floor satellite B and Schengen baggage return area), the completion of the e-Gates project involving new passport-reading equipment in the three terminals and breaking ground on construction of a new General Aviation terminal in Malpensa.
Management remains committed to further developing the various business areas and to pursuing operating efficiency with the aim of improving company processes.
On this basis, operating results in 2018 are expected to continue the positive trend of recent years.
6 Source: Assaeroporti