The document discusses the airport sector in Italy, which is currently undergoing significant changes due to sustainability policies and the pandemic. The airport sector makes up 3-6% of Italy's GDP but was neglected in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Pre-pandemic the sector had 200 million travelers annually, but numbers may not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024-2025 as recovery is slow. Sustainability policies may further slow the development of new sustainable mobility solutions for the airport sector, leaving an important industry and its economic benefits largely untapped.

1. Andrea Mennillo
Capital to take off: airport sector and sustainable mobility
Article
7th
July, 2022
www.andreamennillo.org

2. 2
Assuming the position of Vice President of Albenga’s Airport has given me the opportunity to delve
into the dynamics of a strategic sector for Italy, that of air transport, which is currently at the center of
an important phase of change relating both to new policies focused on sustainability and to the
consequences of the pandemic. In fact, the future development of this sector cannot be separated from
a deep restructuring, which is especially required by the new scenarios of sustainable mobility, given
also the high environmental impact of air transportation.
Let us not forget, firstly, that we are talking about a sector in great difficulty due to the pandemic and
that was unfortunately neglected at this stage of restart. Despite a total inducement of between 3 and 6
percent of GDP1
, the policy choice to set other priorities is quite evident in the implementation of the
National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRP), in which the airport sector was not considered.
This could be a short-sighted choice, which is likely to result in a real strategic mistake. Recall that, pre-
pandemic, the sector had around 200 million travellers per year. A figure that, according to estimates,
may be seen again, but no sooner than 2024-20252
. The excellent recovery in 2021, at +52.5 percent
over 2020, is encouraging, but let us recall that it is still 58 percent less than pre-covid3
. So the recovery
will be rather slow, but what role will sustainability policies play in this process?
The decision not to include air transport as one of the recipients of NRP funds is also dictated by
European guidelines, with the clear discriminator of high impact from the environmental point of view,
in favor of other means of transport deemed more "environmentally-friendly." However, the air sector
is unlikely to be effectively replaced by other means of transportation, which is why it may make sense
to ask about the most appropriate ways that can support its healthy development in the long run.
This is also confirmed by the words of Assaeroporti President Carlo Borgomeo: "At present, we are in
a debt situation that does not allow us to self-finance projects on sustainability."
In fact, if we look at the ownership structures of Italian airports, there does not seem to be widespread
interest from private investors, especially foreign investors, ready to "bet" on the sector. Current
investors are mainly Italian, e.g., Atlantia and the F2i fund, in addition, of course, to public actors linked
to the territory, such as municipalities and chambers of commerce. The NRP could have been a strong
signal that could have attracted the attention of new Italian and foreign investors, bringing capital, skills
and ideas.
In the airport sector, therefore, the new sustainable mobility may be slow to "take off," leaving a sector
with important spillover effects at the territorial level and at the level of the national economic system
untapped.
Andrea Mennillo
Founder and Managing Director, International Development Advisory
Chairman Fordham University London Centre Advisory Board
1 Assaeroporti data(http://www.assaeroporti.com/wp-content/uploads/censis/Sintesi-Rapporto_Censis-
Assaeroporti_EMBARGO.pdf).
2 Enac data in "Social Report and Budget 2020" cited https://tg24.sky.it/economia/2021/07/21/enac-covid-traffico-
aereo#03.
3 Enac data in "Traffic Data 2021" cited https://tg24.sky.it/economia/2022/05/04/traffico-aereo-2021-enac-.