Transport: Call for tenders for subsidised flights between Alghero and Milan proves unsuccessful

The tender for territorial air connectivity – that is, travel at capped and fixed prices for residents, on an exclusive basis and with compensation between Alghero and Milan Linate – has come to nothing. No airline has therefore taken part in the tender launched by the Region of Sardinia to guarantee capped and fixed fares for residents and other individuals meeting the criteria set out in the tender.

The tender was intended to award the routes from 1 February 2027 to March 2029. The Region of Sardinia will now have to draw up a new call for tenders, with the aim of guaranteeing the service and also enabling the Alghero–Linate route to benefit from the new territorial continuity scheme. For a few months, it will still be possible to travel without any problems, as Ita Airways (which operates three daily flights) has informed the Region that it accepts the current service being extended until 31 January 2027.

“We acknowledge the difficulties that this route continues to face,” commented Barbara Manca, the regional councillor for Transport, in a statement. “It is a complex situation, which we have addressed by drawing up a dual-track approach in good time. Today, in the absence of any bids, we are pressing ahead with the new procedure. The objective remains the one we have always stated: to ensure the safety of the Alghero–Milan route and, as soon as possible, bring it into line with the best conditions enjoyed by other routes under the new territorial continuity model, with more favourable conditions for passengers, lower fares and an increase in flight frequencies.”

The Regional Authority emphasises that the availability of ITA ‘also makes it possible to put the urgent negotiated procedure regarding cover for the transitional period on hold’. The aim is to guarantee the service from 1 February 2027. “Despite the outcome of the tender, the service is guaranteed,” emphasises the councillor. “We have put in place the necessary measures to guarantee the service and will continue to use them. “ITA’s extension allows us, in the meantime, to get through the transition period without leaving the route uncovered. At the same time, we will work to ensure the transition to the new model from 1 February.”

For the trade unions, who make no secret of their concern, this is a predictable outcome. “What we all feared has, unfortunately, come to pass,” says Arnaldo Boeddu, secretary of Filt Cgil Sardegna. Fortunately, the airline ITA will continue to operate the route on an extended basis until 31 January 2027, but from 1 February onwards, no one is currently able to provide sufficient guarantees to prevent the north-west from becoming effectively cut off from the north of the country. From now until January, we will have to work tirelessly to find a solution to the problem, but for the next tender process, we will inevitably have to change the model and, first and foremost, move away from tenders for individual routes.”