Accounts in order, excellent liquidity and great growth prospects. Cagliari airport is tempting for its numbers. The 2022 financial statements will close with a profit of 15.3 million, "the best result ever achieved by the company", reads the report accompanying Sogaer's accounts.

The statistics

Overall revenues grew to 54.4 million euros, 10% more than in 2019. The net financial position (i.e. cash and cash equivalents minus debts): 11.3 million. All the forecasts on the trend of the sector, then, are positive. From Iata (the international air transport association), to the manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, up to Enac: all predict a growth in passenger traffic by 2030 which in the worst case scenario will be 50%.

The opinion

“Family jewels are not for sale. Which entrepreneur would sell his company with these indicators. But let's be clear: even if it were a loss, an island's main airport must not be sold. It is not for nothing that in all the major European island regions the airports are controlled by the public sector», says Alberto Bertolotti, president of Confcommercio Sud Sardegna.

The fears

Privatization also risks revolutionizing the low-cost connection board. «What is happening in Alghero is significant and worrying», recalls Bertolotti, «where a contribution has been requested from local companies to keep relations with Ryanair alive, considered not convenient due to the low profit margin. It's crazy reasoning."

The scenery

On the privatization plan of Sardinian airports, Enac has launched "further investigations", after having withdrawn the positive opinion given for the merger of the Alghero and Olbia airports. And the Region has also raised the barricades. The F2i project envisages that the participation of the regional administration will drop to 3%.

All the details in Michele Ruffi's article on the Unione Sarda on newsstands

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