A full guide to Milano Malpensa Airport (Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP))

Member Name: aex12

Product:	Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP)
Date:	03/11/02 (3141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quite organised.

Disadvantages: Has had a bad reputation because of problems in the past.

Milano Malpensa Airport is owned and operated by SEA-Aeroporti di Milano. It is 50 km from the Milan city centre and by car you take about 45 minutes, unless you go during the peak hours. To get there from Milan you simply take the Autostrada 8 dei Laghi (A 8 motorway), you follow the signs to Malpensa and you exit at Busto Arsizio, you then follow the Strada Statale 336 (SS 336, like an A road in UK) and you then follow the signs to go to Terminal 1 or 2.

By train from Milan it takes 40 minutes and a very good Malpensa Express (www.malpensaexpress.it) service operates every 30 minutes from Milano Nord Cadorna station (which is NOT the central station of Milan but it is in the centre of Milan) to Malpensa Terminal 1. You'll see that the station is not a bad facility at all, there is a Malpensa Express lounge where you can buy a ticket and check-in (if you have not got any luggage) with Alitalia. Remember to validate the ticket in the station before boarding the train. The trains are good, they can carry up to 400 passengers and have automatic announcements in Italian and English and there is good luggage space.

There are also various bus companies that connect various parts of the city with this hub. If you need to go by train somewhere right after your flight you should take the Air Pulman to the Stazione Centrale FS (Central Station), however if you need to go to the Como or Varese area it would be better to take the Malpensa Express and then the local train from Cadorna. Cadorna station is in the centre of the city and is served by 2 underground lines: red line 1 (goes to Duomo), green line 2 (goes to Stazione Centrale FS central station).

As mentioned before in Malpensa there are two terminals, but all flights from UK leave from terminal 1 (the most modern one which is also better served by transport links), however if by any chance you actually need to leave from terminal 2, SEA-Aeroporti di Milano provides a FREE bus service ev
ery 15 minutes. In any case in Terminal 2 you only have some charter flights for the moment even though there are proposals to rebring some flights there because Terminal 1 is becoming too crowded.

As soon as you get in you will head towards the check-in desks which are all in a very big area. Alitalia's ones are always at the same place and are closer to the restaurants while British Airways' ones are not fix just like other airlines'. There are some basic shops in Malpensa, don't expect the Heathrow style yet, however you might still find something that you like before you go back to the UK.

The overall airport organisation is good, baggage is rarely lost thanks to the still low number of handling agents and to the security. Some SEA personnel stealing things from the cases has been caught. Now there are no stealing problems. The direction signs are good and it's hard to get lost. The boarding area is right under the check-in area and security is now more severe than before and is constantly improving even though the problem that is faced now is that three security organisations (police, carabinieri, SEA) are seen as too many.

Most airlines (including Alitalia) use SEA Handling for all ground handling services, including passenger assistance (check in, boarding, baggage tracing) and ramp handling (luggage transport, and other airside services). BA and Air One use their own staff for passenger assistance but use SEA Handling for ramp handling services. Lufthansa uses Globeground Milano for passenger assistance but SEA Handling for ramp handling. Air France, Royal Air Maroc, Icelandair, Go and Meridiana use ATA Handling (for the moment SEA Handling's only competitor) for all services. In any case SEA Handling has got a good reputation and ATA is not bad neither.

At the moment I consider Malpensa more organised than Heathrow in the sense that the handling services are still under control, but when you start
getting more than two handlers the confusion starts and so luggage starts to disappear.


Malpensa is quite far from Milan but transport links are improving, however it's better to land there during the day otherwise you might be forced to take the taxi that costs about 50 to 65 Euros. Be careful because, even if on the decrease there are still some illegal taxis, make sure that on the window there is written "taxi autorizzato al servizio aeroportuale Lombardo" ("authorised taxi for the Lombardian airport service"). The customer assistance is good and 90% of the times you see SEA or SEA Handling personnel walking around which helps everyone, whatever the airline.

The bad news is that the nearest hotels are in Varese, but it's not very far.

Don't worry, Malpensa does not have snow or stealing problems anymore, now it works well.

For more information you can check www.sea-aeroportimilano.it

Buon viaggio!

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