20.12.24

AIR ARABIA INAUGURATES NEW ROUTE BETWEEN FEZ AND MILAN BERGAMO

Air Arabia Maroc, a member airline of the Air Arabia Group and a leading low-cost carrier based in Casablanca, Morocco, inaugurated its new route between Fez and Milan Bergamo Airport on Thursday, December 18. The first flight, operated by an A320 aircraft, was welcomed with the traditional water cannon salute by the Fire Brigade of the Orio al Serio Airport Station. 

This is the second route operated by Air Arabia between Morocco and Milan Bergamo Airport, following the launch of the Casablanca route on May 12, 2009. The new connection with Fez, known as the cultural capital of Morocco with its imperial heritage and UNESCO-listed medina, will offer two weekly flights, operating on Wednesdays and Sundays. 

The inaugural flight from Fez to Milan Bergamo was attended by Fatima Meziane, Regional Manager Benelux Italy and Germany, Marco D’Onofrio, Italy Sales Manager for Air Arabia Maroc, and Claudio Lazzati, Italy Sales Executive for Air Maroc. 

Both the Fez and Casablanca routes, the latter operating daily except Saturdays, are served by the Airbus A320 in a single-class configuration with 174 seats. The same type of aircraft is also used by Air Arabia to connect Milan Bergamo to Cairo with five weekly flights, and to Alexandria, Egypt, during the summer schedule. 

Since December 7, 2022, Air Arabia has been operating daily flights between Milan Bergamo and Sharjah International Airport, located just a few kilometers from the city center and only twenty minutes from Dubai. This route is operated using the Airbus A321neoLR, configured in a single class with 215 seats. The stopover in Sharjah allows passengers to connect to over 80 destinations across Asia, the Middle East, the Gulf, and Africa. 

12.12.24

SACBO AND MILAN BERGAMO AIRPORT ACHIEVE 'GOLD' CERTIFICATION AS BIKE-FRIENDLY COMPANIES

Orio al Serio (BG), December 12, 2024 – Milan Bergamo Airport and SACBO S.p.A., respectively the first airport and the first airport management company in Europe to obtain the "Bike Friendly" certification, awarded in 2021 by FIAB (Italian Federation for the Environment and Cycling), reaffirm their role as virtuous companies committed to cycling. They have not only reconfirmed their SILVER certification but have also reached the highest level, GOLD.

The FIAB certification as a "Bike Friendly Company" (CFE-ITA), based on the European CFE "Cycle Friendly Employer" protocol, officially recognizes companies in Italy that stand out for creating a workplace environment that promotes and facilitates the use of bicycles. Designed and promoted by a consortium of 16 European partners, the certification allows companies to benchmark themselves against a unified European standard with consistent criteria.

The GOLD-level Bike Friendly Company certification ceremony took place today at SACBO's headquarters, in the presence of Dr. Giovanni Sanga, President of SACBO, Valeria Lorenzelli, Vice President of FIAB Italia and Head of the Everyday Mobility Area, and Christophe Sanchez, CEO of Visit Bergamo.

The recognition reaffirms the airport company’s commitment to sustainable development policies, in line with the goals of the 2030 Agenda, and rewards efforts to create conditions for the entire airport community to utilize and promote the use of bicycles. SACBO's and the airport’s attention is not only directed toward employees and airport workers but also toward tourists, both international and domestic, who increasingly seek infrastructure and services that enable “integrated mobility,” where sustainable transport means, such as bicycles, play a growing role.

Dr. Giovanni Sanga, President of SACBO, expressed great satisfaction with this achievement:
“SACBO strongly supports all initiatives aimed at intermodality and accommodating tourists and travelers interested in this mode of travel. The future is heading in this direction, and we are experiencing it firsthand with the increasing requests from tourists looking for cycling routes and dedicated services. Our airport connects well with the main Lombard and national cycle routes, and we are pleased to focus more and more on these themes, which represent a great opportunity for territorial growth from both an economic perspective and the enhancement of natural, cultural, and historical heritage. Moreover, we must not underestimate the fact that using bicycles, even in daily life, is an important factor contributing to a high quality of life. For this reason, SACBO is committed to ensuring that its employees and the entire airport community can safely choose to commute to work by bicycle. This certification confirms that we are moving in the right direction and provides further motivation to continue investing in projects dedicated to sustainable mobility.”

02.10.24

SACBO CONTRIBUTES EUR 200,000 TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF BERGA-MO SOLIDARITY FUND FOR THE 9 SEPTEMBER FLOOD

Supporting people in the belief that acts of solidarity help those in need to recover from situations of difficulty. It is with this spirit, a reflection of social responsibility towards local communities, that SACBO has committed to contributing EUR 200,000 in support of the solidarity fund set up by the municipality of Bergamo to cover expenses for basic necessities faced by citizens and businesses in the city of Bergamo affected by the flood of 9 September 2024. 

This is SACBO’s response to the appeal from the mayor Elena Carnevali, expressing awareness of the necessity to address the needs of the community. 

“SACBO is joining the widespread efforts of the municipality of Bergamo which, with the creation of the solidarity fund, has organised a form of practical support for those who have suffered the devastating effects of adverse weather”, stated Giovanni Sanga, president of SACBO. “The donation made is an expression of our desire to take part in efforts to provide practical and immediate support to those whose work, businesses and daily lives have been affected. We are living in an era in which it is impossible to ignore the consequences of climate change, which are forcing us to adopt habits that are ever more compatible with the environment and embrace all that technological innovation has to offer for the benefit of sustainability. This is a theme that SACBO has adopted as a goal for the present and for future development”. 

02.10.24

SACBO PARTICIPATES IN EUROPEAN MOBILITY WEEK

Milan Bergamo Airport and SACBO, respectively the first airport and first airport management company in Europe to have received “BIKE FRIENDLY” certification, assigned in 2021, took part on BIKE TO WORK DAY on Friday 20 September, an annual event that promotes the use of bicycles for commuting between home and work and forms part of the programme of initiatives for European Mobility Week. It was an opportunity to encourage employees to pedal to work and illustrate the advantages offered by the bike room set up in the public area of the airport and open for the day to allow everyone to understand the utility of this space, which is available for passengers and bicycle enthusiasts.

Within this context, SACBO played host to two classes from the school “Istituto Caniana” of Bergamo, studying “Design for visual communication and advertising” as part of the particular focus on younger generations and with a view to raising awareness among the students on the strategic importance of a culture of sustainability.

The event began with greetings from the President of SACBO, Giovanni Sanga, and continued with an illustration of the sustainability model developed by the airport management company and based on the concept of “multimodality”, understood as a combination of means of transport for ground-based travel to and from the airport, including the use of bicycles and the network of cycle and cycle-pedestrian routes. The event also saw the participation of Francesco Baroncini, a Board Member of the European Cyclists’ Federation, who spoke via video from Brussels to stress the importance of the initiatives implemented by SACBO and Milan Bergamo Airport, as well as of raising awareness among younger generations on using bicycles as a daily means of transportation, a concept repeated by professor Gabriele Torri, a researcher from the University of Bergamo and member of the managerial team of Pedalopolis, part of FIAB, and by Nicola Eynard, an architect and tourist guide.

02.10.24

SACBO HOSTS THE WORKSHOP ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND NEW REGULATIONS TO IMPROVE SAFETY IN AIRPORT OPERATIONAL AREAS

Milan Bergamo Airport is the first airport in Italy to adopt a simulator for driving wheel-based service vehicles in operational areas, and the second in Europe after Brussels international airport. It is a move that reflects the airport management company’s focus on safety aspects within the airport context, allowing for the promotion of a workshop held in the auditorium of the SACBO executive offices dedicated to the theme of “ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND NEW REGULATIONS TO IMPROVE SAFETY IN AIRPORT OPERATIONAL AREAS”, which involved collaboration between Milan Bergamo Airport, the TXT Group (the company that developed the driving simulator software) and the IFSC (Italian Flight Safety Committee), with the participation of representatives of the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) and the European Union Aviation Safety Authority (EASA), which are responsible for regulating airport ground handling services. 

The workshop focused on improvements in safety for activities in the areas of aircraft handling and operations, a process related to new developments in regulations regarding ground handling services, sharing the functions and benefits of the airport management company’s use of the wheeled vehicle driving simulator (Airside Driving Simulator), which contributes to increasing airport safety and represents a technological and procedural evolution in this field. 

The activities, which began with speeches from Amelia Corti, the Managing Director of SACBO, and Roberta Carli, the Bergamo Area Director of ENAC - the Italian Civil Aviation Authority -, and were coordinated by Lorenzo Mezzadri, the president of the IFSC, saw the contribution of Adina Szonyi from EASA and Giuseppe Ignoti from the Italian Civil Aviation Authority on the theme of new regulations.