30 April 2020

COVID-19: interview with the CEO of Cagliari Airport Renato Branca

"Airports are the safest places from the point of view of gatherings because they have always had to deal with a whole series of very restrictive safety regulations related to air transport."

Avion Tourism Magazine proposes, during the Covid-19 pandemic, a series of interviews with the CEOs and/or General Managers of Italian airports to understand how they are carrying out their work in these critical days of health emergency, to give a space and a voice to their stories and initiatives And, above all, to know what strategies will be adopted to make passenger transit at the airport safer and how the air transport sector is evolving .

CAGLIARI AIRPORT

Interview with Renato Branca , CEO of Cagliari Airport

Renato Branca Amministratore Delegato dell’Aeroporto di Cagliari. © Sogaer.

Renato Branca Managing Director of Cagliari Airport. © Sogaer.

Can you tell us how your work has changed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and how the work in your airports has changed and been organized?

"Cagliari Airport is the only operational airport in Sardinia , we are proud of it and, albeit with very small ranks (with all that it entails in terms of costs) it operates with 6 daily flights: 4 to/from Rome and 2 to/from Milan to which is added 1 night cargo flight. In this period we have recorded a 98% drop in passengers compared to the 230,000 recorded in April last year. Despite this, this pandemic period has allowed us to implement a whole series of innovations of which we are very proud."

What are the initiatives you have carried out in recent days and with what objectives?

"We have carried out a series of actions to protect our company. Keeping the airport and the two companies of the group (the handling company Sogaerdyn and the security company Sogaer Security) open in these conditions entailed, in addition to the loss of turnover, the addition of a series of costs that we would not have had if the airport had remained closed. Like other Italian airports, we were forced to open the extraordinary redundancy fund for a duration of 1 year. Unfortunately, to date there is no real willingness on the part of the bodies in charge to financially help the airport management companies."

What measures have you taken to ensure the safety of all employees working at the airport?

"We have opened insurance for all airport employees in the event of Coronavirus infection both for possible hospital treatment and for convalescence. We have also equipped ourselves with all the necessary tools to safeguard the health of our colleagues with the supply of masks, disinfectants and applied sanitization in all areas of the offices and the airport. We are now installing, for further safety, plexiglass bulkheads at the check-in counters to further distance the passenger by the airport employee."

After the lockdown, without prejudice to the application of the protocols that will be provided by the competent authorities, how do you think you can guarantee and strengthen health safety for passengers, in the various areas of your airport, so that they can return to travel with peace of mind?

"We are very proud to have implemented a series of innovations first not only in Italy but also in Europe. We started with the disinfection of the hand luggage trays (those that passengers hand over at the security gates) which are subjected to an ultraviolet treatment. We have included ultraviolet equipment that sanitizes luggage carts and wheelchairs. The same car will also be used for checked luggage. In this way, there is a double advantage: on the one hand , we guarantee the passenger the external sanitization of his luggage and on the other, for the airport operator, we provide additional protection in addition to gloves and all the protective measures required by the safety protocol. Another thing we are particularly proud of is that we were the first peripheral airport in Italy, (obviously leaving out Rome and Milan), to carry out sanitization on aircraft parked at night. Alitalia requested this service and we shared the sanitization protocol by choosing certified products for aeronautical use. We would like to implement this procedure also to all parked flights even if it is more difficult due to the time needed for sanitization, which currently takes about a couple of hours, but which could be significantly reduced with the use of certified products for which only nebulization is necessary and not the manual passage of disinfectant over the entire interior of the aircraft. We were among the first airports in Italy to measure the temperature with the thermoscanner to passengers arriving at the airport. To ensure the required distance of at least 1 meter between passengers, we are implementing walkable stickers especially in critical points where there is greater crowding such as at check-ins, security gates, boarding gates and baggage reclaim. We will also insert 'No Sitting' between 2 stations at the airport to ensure social distancing even while waiting for the flight. The spacing of seats is something that is very manageable at the airport level but rather complicated to adopt on board planes. With the President of the Sardinia Region we are collaborating to ensure a "Covid free Sardinia" thinking of a sort of 'health passport for passengers' with the possibility of performing serological tests at the airport. We are still at the level of discussion and feasibility assessment in a short time. The test would certainly make the destination more attractive and would guarantee checks to the passenger both arriving and departing from Sardinia. As for the airlines, I can tell you that they would resume operations as soon as possible but they are trying to understand what the evolution of the situation will be in order to restart in the best possible way. We have international flights already scheduled in June by Eurowings, Ryanair, Volotea, British Airways and many other companies. Everything will depend on the European Community which will have to adopt common guidelines , possibly considering the recommendations of EASA."

As a result of this pandemic, what do you think will be the substantial changes in the way we travel in Italy and around the world and how will the air transport sector evolve?

"I recently read a statement from IATA which recommended the resumption of activities as soon as possible because the passenger must regain confidence with the use of the aircraft. If he loses confidence in the use of the plane and also confidence in safety at the airport, both at departure and destination, we are destined to drag this crisis for a very long time. 2020 will be a horrible year for air transport, to be forgotten, but we must lay the foundations for 2021 starting from 2020. It is therefore essential to raise awareness among passengers with messages that reassure them and make them part of the true safety of all operations that are carried out both on the ground and during the flight. The sooner these actions are initiated, the greater the chance of success. I think this situation will be a long war, which will not end with the disappearance of the virus and even less with peaceful coexistence with the virus".

What message would you like to send to all passengers who, after the lockdown, will resume flying by choosing Cagliari Airport?

"I feel I can tell all passengers that flying is always the safest way to get from one place to another and allows you to have beautiful and unforgettable experiences. Airports are the safest places from the point of view of gatherings because they have always had to deal with a whole series of very restrictive safety regulations related to air transport. So from this point of view, the customer must be very calm. He will be pampered and will be able to travel in absolute safety. I hope that everything will soon pass and that people will start flying again".

Curated by Angela Trivigno

Avion Tourism Magazine