The new territorial continuity is lacking. And as the holidays approach, seats on flights to and from Sardinia are also running low. Who's to blame? It's partly a natural phenomenon: people travel more at Christmas. But, above all, for Transport Councillor Barbara Manca, the blame lies with "the ministerial decree prepared in 2021 by the previous government, which was necessarily extended until the new service is activated." In short: it's the fault of those who were there before.

Given the critical issues, the Region announced, the Regional Department of Transport has intensified monitoring of air traffic continuity, "in order to promptly manage the congestion of flights to and from the airports of Cagliari, Olbia, and Alghero."

This week, meetings were held with Aeroitalia, Volotea, and ITA Airways within the Joint Committee for Air Territorial Continuity. Councilor Barbara Manca, based on the booking data available to the department, highlighted the most critical days around the Immaculate Conception long weekend and the Christmas holidays, asking the carriers to add additional flights as required by the decree.

"This is a strengthening of the daily monitoring we carry out on an ongoing basis," Manca explains. "Whenever we detect load factors above or approaching the critical threshold, we formally report them to the airlines and request the addition of additional flights. However, we remind you that carriers do not have to wait for the Region's notification to supplement their schedules: the obligation is automatically triggered when the load factor exceeds 91% on a single route."

After outlining the stopgap solutions implemented, Todde, a member of the government, moved on to criticism. The current regime is characterized by "underestimating the size of flights compared to real demand, with flights that easily become saturated, especially during peak periods," and by the introduction of "additional flights subject to exceeding 91% of daily capacity: a mechanism that forces carriers to act too close to departure dates." Another problem: "Operational difficulties for airlines in finding additional aircraft due to the shortage of aircraft on the market and limited slots at the congested airports of Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate."

However, congestion isn't just a Sardinian problem: "Let's not forget," adds Manca, "that air traffic congestion during Christmas is a widespread phenomenon throughout Europe and particularly evident on routes between Central and Northern Italy and the South and Islands. In this context, territorial continuity represents a fundamental barrier: it guarantees a regulated public service and regulated prices for residents and similar categories."

The Region also points out that, under the current regulatory framework, sanctions are only applicable after the end of the service period and do not apply to failure to include additional flights. "This is a further limitation that prevents us from having a direct and immediate impact on carriers' operations," Manca clarifies. "Despite this, we are using all available means to achieve the best possible results."

It's important to recognize, according to Manca, "that the structural problems with the current service are also causing operational difficulties for the three carriers involved in territorial continuity, which are making significant efforts to comply with the tender requirements and add flights where possible. The current system, however, makes it difficult to operate consistently. Added to this is the fact that the additional flights are not financially compensated."

(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)

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