Sardinia's air territorial continuity is taking shape piecemeal. The minutes of the tender commission for the assignment of the Cagliari-Milan and Alghero-Rome routes have been published: both went to Aeroitalia, the sole bidder (a fact that facilitated the process).

Important point: these are tender proposals. This means, as stated in the documents, that they will become effective provided that "no EU air carrier notifies the Region of its intention to commence air services subject to public service obligations, starting from March 29, 2026, without enjoying exclusive rights and without receiving any compensation, within six months of the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the European Commission's information notices regarding these tender procedures, or by the date of signing the agreements for the exclusive award of these services with compensation, if later than said six-month period."

The routes from Olbia to Milan and Rome, and from Cagliari to Rome, are still up for tender: Aeroitalia has already announced that it will operate these flights without compensation—and therefore without receiving any public funding—and allies ITA and Volotea still have about three weeks to declare whether they too wish to enter the game under the same terms.

The Alghero-Milan issue remains: no bids of any kind have been received for this route. The department had assured that, in order to ensure the Riviera del Corallo is not left uncovered on connections to northern Italy, it would proceed, pending an extension of the current regime, with a new call for tenders. This has not yet been received.

© Riproduzione riservata