Fire breaks out on baggage cart near aircraft at Malpensa; lithium battery is main suspect

A baggage cart caught fire this Thursday on the apron of Terminal 1 at Malpensa Airport in Milan.

The incident occurred at around 1:00 p.m., while the vehicle owned by ground-handling company Aviapartner was loading baggage into the lower hold of a British Airways aircraft bound for London.

According to Italian media reports, the initial suspicion is that a lithium battery inside one of the suitcases overheated. The high temperatures in recent days are thought to have contributed to the overheating.

A dense cloud of smoke suddenly emerged from the cart, alerting airport staff. Malpensa firefighters intervened at the scene and managed to put out the fire within a few minutes.

The flames were confined to the cart and the baggage, without affecting the aircraft or nearby facilities.

Airport operations were not suspended, and air traffic continued normally despite the firefighters’ intervention.

The only delay affected the British Airways flight to London. The aircraft, which was initially scheduled to depart shortly before 2:00 p.m., took off around two hours later due to security checks.