Sardinia: the regional government has suspended the boarding tax for six months

The Region of Sardinia is waiving the boarding tax for six months of the year, until 2028. And, to support this measure – which will apply during the winter months – it is allocating €18.2 million. This change is provided for in the two-billion-euro budget amendment currently under consideration by the Regional Council, which has approved the amendment that waives the municipal surcharge on boarding fees for six months of the year.

A measure which, as emphasised by representatives of the executive led by President Alessandra Todde, will serve to ‘encourage an increase in passenger numbers on flights departing from Sardinia during the low season’.

Specifically, the tax will not be levied from November 2026 to March 2027, and then from November 2027 to March 2028 at the two airports in Cagliari Elmas and at Olbia airport. As for Alghero Airport, however, the tax waiver will also apply to April and May. To support this measure, €3.3 million has been allocated for this year, €9.1 million for 2027 and €5.8 million for 2028.

The abolition of the municipal surcharge had also been the subject of appeals from low-cost airlines, which had called for measures to be taken in this regard precisely to boost connections – and therefore investment – during the winter months, when Sardinia is a less popular destination than in the summer.

According to Salvatore Deidda, chair of the Transport Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, ‘it is essential that airlines start planning flights for the coming winter season straight away’. ‘Major airlines such as Ryanair, Volotea, easyJet, Wizz Air, Aeroitalia, ITA Airways, Air Dolomiti and Skyalps – he emphasises – now have a real incentive to increase routes to and from Sardinia, contributing to development not only during the summer months but throughout the year’.