Unauthorised porters are not going away

What of the phenomenon of “unauthorised porters” at Malpensa?

It is still there. We still receive numerous reports from our readers: “Since they stopped charging for use of the trolleys, you can’t find any available, unless you’re willing to pay an unauthorised porter,” wrote Alessandro, who was embarrassed when accompanying a client leaving from Malpensa, a few weeks ago (it should be noted, the charge on the trolleys was removed by SEA in order to stop the phenomenon).

If you stand for a few minutes on the pavement of the “Departures” level of Terminal 1, you will easily identify them: even in the middle of the afternoon, a few “trolley-men” can be seen, ready to approach travellers that have just arrived by taxi or van, heading for the check-in desks. Their presence is discreet (in view of the police checks), but they are easy to identify: a couple of Italians strategically positioned on one side of the pavement, a South American, on the other.

Moreover, whenever the police start carrying out checks (which they have been doing a lot of recently, since the episode of an unauthorised porter being attacked by his “colleagues”), the numbers show that the phenomenon is there. On Wednesday, 18 June, staff from Police Headquarters in Varese, the Border Police, Railway Police and Crime Prevention Department, identified eleven suspects: four (two Italians and two foreigners) were stopped for checks, and four were fined, in accordance with the Navigation Code, for unjustified presence at the airport. But what is more significant is that two Italians and one foreigner were charged (and then released) because they had not respected the “Injunction” preventing them from returning to the airport. In short, these people had already been “nabbed”, and had decided to come back, maybe because they did not have any alternative source of income. In any case, the checks are continuing, also this season, when the number of travellers leaving from the airport is on the increase. However, if we look at the previous checks, we can see a reduction in the number of unauthorised people identified at the airport; for example, on 8 April, 54 people were stopped, 6 were charged, 13 were fined, and 4 foreigners were deported.