Sardinia, for air continuity from Aeroitalia five routes at subsidised fares

'The new territorial continuity introduces significant improvements compared to the previous system,' commented Transport Councillor Barbara Manca. First of all, a net reduction in fares: residents and those entitled can now purchase a round-trip ticket with an average saving of around €30 per person, which becomes €100 or more for a family of four. A far from foregone conclusion, achieved in compliance with European rules and in a complex international context, characterised by strong competition and a shortage of aircraft'. Not only that, according to the regional executive's representative, "in addition to the price reduction, the new model guarantees a greater overall number of frequencies, a better distribution of schedules and, above all, a broadening of the facilitated categories: in addition to residents, relatives of residents and workers also benefit from the reduced fares, for the entire year, reinforcing the right to mobility and responding to real needs for study, work and family relations.

As far as the Alghero-Milan Linate route is concerned, not covered at this stage by the new tender, the connection 'has been secured thanks to the extension of the existing service'. "Ita Airways will therefore continue to guarantee the route until the end of the IATA Summer season, scheduled for the end of October," underline the councillor's office. "In the meantime, the Region will provide for the publication of a new dedicated tender, with the aim of aligning this connection too with the other five in the new territorial continuity structure.

Moreover, the possibility for other carriers to join the service without financial compensation, as has already happened for three routes, remains open for about a month and in any case until the final conclusion of the tender procedures. A choice that, in addition to strengthening the service, allows the Region to free up public resources to be allocated to other mobility policies.

"The airline that will operate on the assigned routes has already started an important work of strengthening services for passengers, signing interline agreements with some of the main international carriers," specify the councillor's office, "including Air France, KLM, Delta and Qatar Airways. On the companies' websites it is already possible to make single bookings for onward journeys from Rome and Milan, reducing the risk of missing international connections and significantly improving the travel experience".

Watching closely are the trade unions. "We will have to wait a few more weeks before knowing whether Aeroitalia will be the only airline to be assigned five of the six routes from Sardinia's three airports put out to tender by the Region to Rome and Milan, i.e. the connections in territorial continuity to and from the Peninsula. "There is still the knot on the Alghero-Milan connection, since the call for tenders did not see any bids and therefore the Transport Department will have to proceed with a further tender, increasing the economic compensation," comments Arnaldo Boeddu, regional secretary of Filt trasporti. "Should Aeroitalia prove to be the only airline to operate the connections to Rome and Milan for the next three years, we expect the carrier to immediately guarantee everything envisaged in the call for tenders. In the recent past, not everything has gone right and passengers have often found themselves in difficulty. For this reason, the Region will have to pay close attention to call centre services, ticket changes, ground handling by the management companies, and the management of passengers in need of assistance, as well as the transport of pets'.