Key Figures

2021 was still strongly characterized by the impact of the pandemic. However, thanks to the solid performance of the vaccination campaign, the effects of the Covid have been significantly mitigated, allowing Aeroporto di Bologna to begin to see signs of recovery, highlighted by the increase in traffic levels.

Consolidated revenues show an overall decrease of 13.3% from 67.5 million euro to 58.5 million euro, but revenues adjusted by revenues from construction services, which are related to lower investments made, grow by 33.6% from 37.8 million euro in 2020 to 50.4 million euro in 2021. Specifically, aeronautical services revenues decrease by 52.9% compared to 2019 due to the contraction in traffic, but increase by 38.4% compared to 2020 due to the recovery starting in late spring 2021. Non-aeronautical services revenues decline by 55% from 2019, but grow by 29.1% when compared to 2020. Construction services revenues decline (-72.6% compared to 2020 and -51% compared to 2019) is due to lower capital expenditures in both aviation and non-aviation segments. Finally, the decline of the other operating revenues and income (-36.3% compared to 2020 and -38.8% compared to 2019) result primarily from lower sales of energy efficiency certificates and lower airport area conduction revenues.

Overall, 2021 operating costs decrease by 23% compared to 2020 and by 31.5% compared to 2019. Compared to 2020, the decrease is driven solely by construction services costs, as the other cost categories are all up. In more detail, the costs of consumables and goods show an increase of 45.4% over 2020 and a decrease of 14.3% over 2019, mainly due to the purchase of aircraft fuel as a result of traffic trends. Cost of services tended to be in line with 2020 and 25.7% lower than 2019. The changes in the item fees, rentals and other costs (+33.5% compared to 2020 and -47% compared to 2019) is mainly due to the trend in traffic volumes on the basis of which concession and security fees are calculated. Finally, other operating expenses are down compared to 2019 (-3.8%) mainly due to lower tax expenses but up (+6.6%) compared to 2020.

2021 shows a Gross Operating Margin (EBITDA) that returns to a positive figure of 3.5 million euro, compared to -3.9 million euro in 2020 and the positive figure of 44.9 million euro in 2019, as a result of a revenue trend closely linked to traffic and as a consequence of greater cost rigidity, also taking into account the high fixed cost structure that characterizes airport operators. Excluding revenues and costs for construction services and revenues from Terminal Value on renewal provision, an adjusted EBITDA of 3.1 million euro was recorded, compared to a negative 5.6 million euro in 2020 and +44.1 million euro in 2019.

The consolidated net result, entirely attributable to the Group, stands at a loss of 6.7 million euro, compared with the negative result of 13.6 million euro in 2020; the halving of the net loss is significant, but still far from the results of the last pre-Covid year in which net income was 20.9 million euro.

The traffic trend in 2021 was also strongly linked to the pandemic, reflecting the various phases of the trend of contagions and the vaccination campaign, the restrictive measures implemented at national and international level, and the spread of the Omicron variant. While the first quarter of 2021 showed no signs of improvement compared to 2020 - with the exception of the cargo sector - starting from late spring there was a recovery in traffic.

Indeed, during the second and third quarters of 2021, passengers increased by more than 1.6 million compared to the same period in 2020, characterized by the lockdown. In the fourth quarter, traffic volumes remained high in October and November, while in December, due to the additional wave of contagion resulting from the Omicron variant and the subsequent reinstatement of mobility restriction measures, traffic slowed down.

Overall, in 2021 the airport recorded 4,103,816 passengers, down 56.4% compared to 2019 but up 63.7% compared to 2020, with 42,477 movements (down 44.9% compared to 2019 and up 40.9% compared to 2020) and an average load factor increasing from 60.5% in 2020 to 68.7% in 2021, gradually improving over the year: 53.6% in the first quarter, 64% in the second quarter, 71.3% in the third quarter and 70.3% in the fourth quarter.

Scheduled traffic was more affected by the decline in passengers in 2021 (-72.9% compared to 2019) than low-cost traffic (-44.5% compared to 2019) due to both a higher contraction in movements and a lower load factor.

In line with the 2020 trend, domestic traffic performed substantially better than the international component: passengers on domestic flights have already reached about 80% of pre-pandemic levels in 2021 (-21.5% compared to 2019) and those on international flights are still held back by uncertainties about the international health situation and different access rules in individual countries.

In 2021, 37.4% of the airport's passenger traffic was domestic, a significantly higher incidence than in 2020 and 2019. Spain with 14.3% is confirmed as the second country in terms of number of passengers, followed by Germany with 5.7%, Romania with 4.9% and France with 4.6%.

In 2021, 113 destinations could be reached directly from Bologna, a slight increase on 2020. In 2021 half of the ten main destinations are foreign cities, the first of which is Tirana with almost 150 thousand passengers.

Among the carriers, Ryanair is confirmed as the leading company at the airport with 58.8% of total traffic, due to a lower reduction in passengers than the average of the other carriers. In second place is confirmed Wizz Air, with a share that grows from 5.4% in 2019 to 11.8% in 2021, followed by Air France, KLM, Volotea, Air Nostrum and Turkish Airlines with shares between 2% and 3%.

Cargo traffic in 2021 amounted to 50,121,148 kg, increasing by 15.5% compared to 2020, and 2.6% compared to 2019. After Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino, Bologna airport was the third Italian airport in the cargo sector in 2021 (it was fifth in 2019), in particular thanks to the strong development of courier traffic, supported by the strong growth of e-commerce.