The territorial continuity regime from and to Sardinia will close two months earlier, without compensation, guaranteed up to now by Ita and Volotea.
The two companies had given their availability to cover the routes for 12 months, from 15 May 2022 to 14 May 2023. Today, however, it is no longer possible to book a flight on Volotea after 12 February.
In recent weeks, the two carriers have sent the Region two letters in which they had anticipated their intention to renounce the uncompensated tender, citing expensive fuel as one of the reasons . By law they are required to fly for another six months : the end of the regime without compensation will therefore materialize in March, two months before the natural expiration of the experiment.
Former Transport Councilor Giorgio Todde (Lega) had announced that the notice with compensation is ready to be published. The new regime, in all likelihood, will start as soon as the one without compensation closes: in terms of frequency, the compensated tender will be identical to the current one .
"The impossibility of finding tickets beyond February 2023 - explained the regional councilor of the Progressives Massimo Zedda , on the occasion of an electoral meeting promoted by the candidate for the Chamber Francesca Ghirra - is linked to the fact that the two companies wrote to the Region a few weeks ago to communicate the impossibility of continuing without compensation due to the cost of fuel and the lack of public resources ". Now, comments Zedda, "in the absence of a call for the umpteenth time we will have a void, given the impossibility of booking for next spring".
After Todde's resignation , the delegation of Transport is in the hands of the President of the Region Christian Solinas, who hired it ad interim pending the appointment of the new councilor.
VOLOTEA'S LETTER - Volotea in a note confirms the early withdrawal (12 February instead of mid-May) for subsidized flights "in the face of rising inflation and the current cost of fuel. Continuity is an important tool to support movements of citizens and is carried out by airlines at prices below market prices - explains the carrier - Without an adequate system of economic compensation, this tariff regime is not sustainable and forces Volotea, despite the company's willingness to stay for a long time term in Sardinia, to cease flights early, with consequent direct and related employment repercussions ".
The Spanish low cost airline reaffirms its commitment "to facilitate the travel of Sardinian citizens" and undertakes to operate until February 2023, "according to the conditions of the Decree of the Ministry of Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobility no. 466 of 25 November 2021" , the connections from Cagliari and Olbia to Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate without financial compensation, thus ensuring connectivity to and from the Sardinia Region.
"Always attentive to the needs of the Sardinian community, Volotea has aimed to increase its investments on the island and, year after year, has been committed to offering connections with convenient timetables to an increasing number of destinations, achieving excellent results in Sardinia, where very high punctuality rates and excellent operational performance were recorded - concludes the air carrier -. Volotea, which continues to dialogue with all the Sardinian institutions involved, hopes that a synergistic solution will be found as soon as possible to allow it to continue flying , even after February 2023, on a continuity basis ".
(Unioneonline / D)
