Increased seats and routes, tickets at 30 euros for Fiumicino and 44 for Linate : these are just some of the new features foreseen by the new tender for air territorial continuity in Sardinia .

A major step forward toward the launch of the new system of connections to and from the island : the Regional Council has approved the framework defining the conditions under which airlines will operate in the coming years. This long-awaited measure is crucial ahead of the Services Conference, scheduled for Monday, August 11, which will be attended by ENAC and the Ministry of Transport. This meeting, convened by President Todde, will begin the process for the adoption of the new ministerial decree and, subsequently, the publication of the long-awaited tender for the assignment of routes starting in the 2026 summer season.

The new territorial continuity model includes a structural increase in frequencies and available seats to and from Cagliari, Alghero, and Olbia, to Fiumicino and Linate ; more extensive timetables spread across four daily slots instead of the current three (early morning 6am-9pm, remaining morning 9am-1pm, afternoon 1pm-6:30pm, evening 6:30pm-11pm), to better ensure same-day return travel for work, study, or health reasons; significantly reduced fares for residents (who will pay approximately €30 each way to Rome and €44 to Milan, net of VAT and airport taxes). Furthermore, equal treatment with residents is expected, extending to workers and military personnel with a permanent residence in Sardinia, competitive athletes (non-professionals), as well as university students (up to age 27), children and young people aged 2 to 21, disabled people and their companions, and seniors over 70, as already provided for in the current model .

Furthermore, the maximum rates for non-residents traveling to Sardinia for work have been extended to the entire year, and new categories of users have been introduced : residents outside Sardinia who have first-degree kinship (parents and children; siblings), second-degree kinship (grandparents and grandchildren; children of their children), or third-degree kinship (uncles and aunts and nieces; great-grandparents and great-grandchildren) with residents of Sardinia; those taking extraordinary leave pursuant to Law 104/92 to care for a relative resident in Sardinia; and those acting as guardians for a resident of Sardinia. All these categories will pay a 30% higher rate than that applied to residents.

"This is," emphasized Transport Councillor Barbara Manca , "a crucial step, the result of 15 months of intense work, which is now in its final stages to secure important guarantees regarding Sardinian citizens' right to mobility and Sardinia's connectivity, including from an economic and social perspective . With this resolution, we formally begin the final process to overcome the critical issues of the current model by introducing more flights at lower fares, a more regular service throughout the day, and a broader range of users to whom the model can be addressed."

"The project," Manca continues, "has been presented in detail to the European Commission, which has raised no objections to the pillars of the future service, except for the generalized maximum fare, which has been suspended as a precaution pending further discussions with the Government. In the meantime, to our explicit disappointment, formalized with appropriate amendments at the State-Regions Conference during the discussion of the Infrastructure Decree, recently passed into law, the Government has limited the categories to which a fare cap for air travel can be applied."

With the approval of the draft, the Region will now participate in the Services Conference, the first formal step in drafting the Ministerial Decree, which will be followed by the publication of the tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union and the call for tenders.

"Our goal ," Manca concludes, "remains the same as that which has driven us from the beginning: to offer a stable air service to Fiumicino and Linate airports that is sustainable and truly accessible, capable of reducing Sardinia's isolation and promoting the economic, social, and cultural development of our region."

(Unioneonline/vf)

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