Ryanair cuts flights to northern Sardinia, increases services to Cagliari and criticises the regional government
The company has announced service cuts to Alghero and Olbia, an expansion of services to Cagliari, and has criticised the regional government for its belated action on the municipal tax and the tender for territorial continuity
Key points
A reduction in flights in northern Sardinia, an increase in flights to Cagliari, and a “reprimand” for the regional government – both because the abolition of the municipal tax “for just a few months” came too late and because of the call for tenders regarding territorial continuity. Ryanair is setting its sights on Sardinia once again and is not holding back on its criticism of the regional government.
Discounts in the north
The starting point was the press conference held in Cagliari by Jason McGuinness, Chief Commercial Officer of Ryanair, during which it was announced that the winter 2026 schedule for Sardinia will see a 15 per cent reduction on Alghero and a 50 per cent reduction to Olbia, including the loss of one route.
Growth forecast for Cagliari
Not only that: growth is, in fact, expected in Cagliari, including a new route to Forlì and an increase in flights to Milan Malpensa and Venice. “We welcome the decision by the Region of Sardinia to suspend the municipal surcharge during the winters of 2026 and 2027,” said McGuinness, “but the measure has come too late to have an impact on the 2026 winter schedule and falls far short of the year-round abolition needed to restore Sardinia’s competitiveness, particularly in Alghero and Olbia, which suffer from chronic seasonality.”
Territorial continuity
However, that is not all. Among the reasons for the criticism of the regional government is also the issue of so-called ‘territorial continuity’, namely the tender providing for financial compensation to the airline that guarantees connections at a capped and fixed price on routes from Sardinian airports to Rome and Milan.
The opening
And then a proposal: ‘If Sardinia follows the example of Sicily, Calabria, Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna by abolishing the municipal surcharge for the whole year, Ryanair is ready to immediately guarantee two million additional passengers a year, four additional aircraft (representing an investment of 400 million dollars), a new base in northern Sardinia and over 900 new jobs over the course of five years’. McGuinness went on to add that ‘the success of Trapani-Marsala demonstrates exactly what happens when local authorities adopt policies that promote the growth of air travel. Lower access costs translate into more traffic, more tourism, more jobs and lower fares’.
