Milan’s Malpensa Airport (MXP) has broken through the 30-million–passenger threshold for the first time in its history, finishing 2025 on an unprecedented high. According to figures released on 31 December, the airport handled more than 31 million travellers over the calendar year, up roughly nine per cent on 2024 and eclipsing the previous all-time record set in the pre-pandemic boom year of 2019. The milestone comes barely a week after Rome Fiumicino announced it had surpassed 50 million passengers, underscoring the strength of Italy’s post-Covid traffic recovery.
Airport operator SEA attributes the surge to a broad network rebuild and the opening of new long-haul routes. Delta’s Boston service, American Airlines’ Philadelphia link, and Vietnam Airlines’ Hanoi flight were among the highest-profile launches in 2025, joining returning Asian carriers such as Thai Airways, EVA Air, ANA and Cathay Pacific. Eighty per cent of Malpensa traffic is now international, cementing the Lombardy hub’s role as northern Italy’s principal global gateway. SEA has asked the government to accelerate terminal expansion to relieve departure-hall congestion in the Schengen area.
For corporate mobility managers the numbers have practical implications. Capacity growth has already translated into better seat availability and fare competition on key U.S. and Asia-Pacific sectors—welcome news for export-oriented manufacturers in Italy’s industrial north. However, infrastructure is lagging: queue times at security and immigration routinely top an hour at peak. SEA says reinforcements are planned, but until new gates come on-line travellers should continue building buffer time into itineraries, especially during morning and late-afternoon banks.
![Milan Malpensa tops 30 million passengers as 2025 closes, capping record year for Italian aviation]()
Travellers navigating this increasingly busy hub may also need to think ahead about entry requirements. VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) streamlines visa and passport services for more than 200 destinations, giving corporate travel teams and individual flyers step-by-step guidance and expedited processing. By handling documentation in one digital dashboard, VisaHQ helps ensure that the time saved by Malpensa’s new nonstop routes isn’t lost to paperwork delays.
The record also matters for expatriate assignments. Malpensa’s expanded intercontinental reach reduces the need for time-consuming connections via Frankfurt or Paris, making Milan a more attractive base for regional HQs. Recruiters report that assignees rank direct-flight access to home markets as a top quality-of-life metric. With both Malpensa and Fiumicino setting traffic records, Italy is positioning itself as a credible alternative hub for multinational talent in southern Europe.
Looking ahead, SEA forecasts a further five-per-cent traffic rise in 2026, driven by capacity increases from ITA Airways and additional slots granted to Middle-Eastern carriers. Whether infrastructure keeps pace will be the critical question for business-travel reliability over the next 24 months.
Airport operator SEA attributes the surge to a broad network rebuild and the opening of new long-haul routes. Delta’s Boston service, American Airlines’ Philadelphia link, and Vietnam Airlines’ Hanoi flight were among the highest-profile launches in 2025, joining returning Asian carriers such as Thai Airways, EVA Air, ANA and Cathay Pacific. Eighty per cent of Malpensa traffic is now international, cementing the Lombardy hub’s role as northern Italy’s principal global gateway. SEA has asked the government to accelerate terminal expansion to relieve departure-hall congestion in the Schengen area.
For corporate mobility managers the numbers have practical implications. Capacity growth has already translated into better seat availability and fare competition on key U.S. and Asia-Pacific sectors—welcome news for export-oriented manufacturers in Italy’s industrial north. However, infrastructure is lagging: queue times at security and immigration routinely top an hour at peak. SEA says reinforcements are planned, but until new gates come on-line travellers should continue building buffer time into itineraries, especially during morning and late-afternoon banks.
Travellers navigating this increasingly busy hub may also need to think ahead about entry requirements. VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) streamlines visa and passport services for more than 200 destinations, giving corporate travel teams and individual flyers step-by-step guidance and expedited processing. By handling documentation in one digital dashboard, VisaHQ helps ensure that the time saved by Malpensa’s new nonstop routes isn’t lost to paperwork delays.
The record also matters for expatriate assignments. Malpensa’s expanded intercontinental reach reduces the need for time-consuming connections via Frankfurt or Paris, making Milan a more attractive base for regional HQs. Recruiters report that assignees rank direct-flight access to home markets as a top quality-of-life metric. With both Malpensa and Fiumicino setting traffic records, Italy is positioning itself as a credible alternative hub for multinational talent in southern Europe.
Looking ahead, SEA forecasts a further five-per-cent traffic rise in 2026, driven by capacity increases from ITA Airways and additional slots granted to Middle-Eastern carriers. Whether infrastructure keeps pace will be the critical question for business-travel reliability over the next 24 months.
