After two years with the handbrake, next summer should be that of the recovery. But in the great race to intercept tourist flows, the island risks remaining stuck at the starting blocks. Territorial continuity is still unknown. The contract with Volotea will expire on May 14th. After that, there is a big void: it is impossible to book a plane ticket on the lines that connect Sardinia to the airports of Rome and Milan.
The knots
The bridge notice for the management of the routes until 30 September is still on the high seas. No company has officially come forward. There is no shortage of perplexities, and they are related to costs. The price of fuel used in the world of aviation has grown by almost 90% in one year. And this time in the summer months there is no economic compensation from the Region. The accounts will have to balance themselves. Then the managers of Volotea and Ita, two of the companies that could be interested in the Sardinian routes, are reselling the plans also in light of another novelty.
The decline
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Mobility has updated the tariffs for air territorial continuity. A procedure scheduled before the start of each aeronautical season (the summer one will start on March 27). For passengers, there are no increases on the horizon. On the contrary: the maximum ticket prices will drop. Three euros in the connections between the island and Rome (36 euros plus taxes against the current 39 euros) and four euros in those to Milan (43 euros plus taxes against 47 euros). The calculation takes into account the inflation trend of the last year and the half-yearly average of the fuel price. But the figures used are a few months old and have not been adjusted to the latest price increases linked to the war in Ukraine.
Times
Continuity therefore risks remaining hanging by a thread until the last moment. That is on May 14th. Date by which expressions of interest must be presented to manage the routes.
The ships
And the ferries? Here too, certainties are few. The Cagliari-Arbatax-Civitavecchia line, the main route that connects the south of the island to the rest of Italy, will stop in the next few hours: today the six-month contract signed in September with Grimaldi expires, which is also the only one company to have participated in the new tender for the management of the route for next year. Too bad that the award has not yet officially arrived.
The last act of Invitalia (the national agency that published the tender) dates back to 8 March: Grimaldi was admitted to the final phase of the procedure, more is unknown. In the meantime, bookings on the route are suspended.
Federalberghi
Paolo Manca, president of Federalberghi Sardegna, affirms that “politics, not just the regional one, has not taken into consideration the real damage caused by the lack of tickets to and from the island starting from 14 May. We have planned international events close to that date and customers can arrive but cannot leave because there are no flights. The problem of continuity will only be solved when there are tickets regularly on sale, the rest is just chatter ”.
(Unioneonline)
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