Strong growth in turnover generated at airports
The number is stable, but customers rented for longer periods and paid more, with an average amount of 309 euro
One can also book a short-term rental online, but then the car must be picked up at a physical station. Unless it is delivered to your home, but this is a premium service provided by very few operators. Rental stations are located either at airport stalls or at city facilities, including railway stations, shops or city garages. These two types of locations result in two very different businesses.
Airport stations are where most tourist customers are concentrated, especially international ones, who obviously have different needs than nationals. In fact, those who make a trip to Italy do not usually concentrate their holiday on a single city, but prefer several stages, moving either by train or even by hire car to go, for example, from Rome to the Amalfi coast or to Tuscan towns. This translates into longer durations, additional services such as drop-off at another location, and so on.
In the second quarter, passenger traffic at Italian airports was over 63 million, of which 20 million were Italian and 42 foreign (more than double). Furthermore, while domestic passengers were stable, international passengers increased by 8% compared to the same period in 2024. That being said, at the airport stations, turnover in the second quarter amounted to EUR 273 million, up 11% and representing 63% of total revenue.
Within the airport stations, 884,000 rentals were generated (+0.4%), i.e. slightly more than last year. However, customers rented for a longer period. The average duration came to 6.2 days; they paid more: the average rental cost EUR 309 compared to EUR 278 in 2024 when the duration was 5.9 days. Less profitable was the business done at city stations - around 164 million euro - where non-tourist customers are more concentrated. In these locations, rentals contracted by 7%. Lengths appreciated slightly, from 9.5 days to 9.7 days. Prices increased. The average rental cost over EUR 360 (+10%). The rental price per day in the city is still less expensive than at the airport, 37 euros compared to 50 euros.
The presence of replacements, i.e. rentals used by long-term companies to provide replacement vehicles to customers, and business rentals purchased by companies at much more attractive prices than tourist rentals, certainly contribute to lowering the price.
