"Continuity has some critical issues but it is the only tool that can guarantee us the right to mobility towards the mainland".
Words from Transport Councilor Antonio Moro , who spoke this morning in Cagliari at the conference “Free to fly – The territorial continuity we want” , organized by Confcommercio and Federalberghi.
The system "must be modified", highlighted the exponent of the Giunta Solinas, and to do this "we need the help in Europe of the government and ENAC". The island needs "a Sardinian model of air transport that can be achieved by putting together all the tools that the regulations in force in Europe guarantee".
Faced with an increasing traffic of residents, underlined Moro, « the impositions of the EU Commission do not allow us to increase the number of flights and this has created a funnel in peak periods . What we have always said is taking place, that the compression of the volume of resident traffic would have led to problems for the right to mobility of Sardinians". In essence, the EU "has underestimated the traffic volumes of residents". Sardinia " needs more flights ".
The commissioner also spoke of the problem of prices for non-residents, "the fare cannot be left at the mercy of the companies' price and profit policies, the overpriced ticket weighs not only on the tourists' pocket but on our economic system because it puts our tourist system out of the market".
In essence, "we cannot move from the single tariff to the free market, we want a single tariff to guarantee connection with our island even to those outside Sardinia".
Finally Moro announced that for the winter season the Region will experiment « direct aid to passengers to reduce ticket costs . We will allocate 5 million allowing Sardinian residents under 25 and over 65 and competitive athletes to be able to count on the discount".
Finally, a passage on the airports: « We want to exercise public policies in Sardinian airports, and to do so we must participate in the management of the airports . The F2i proposal effectively ousts us, but in ten years we have disbursed 127 million to the three management companies to improve infrastructure, grow services, increase traffic on low-cost vehicles. And we oppose the merger because we want to continue doing this."
ENAC
The president of Enac Pierluigi Di Palma argues that public service obligations "limit the mobility of Sardinians, we need to make a cultural leap and switch to aid to companies ".
With aid to the airlines, he says, "a supply can be negotiated in periods when demand is low, such as in the winter for about eight months a year, while when, on the contrary, demand is important, I would leave the determination of the flight offer to the free market ".
For the head of Italian civil aviation, this would lead to "competition that cuts costs", and at the same time, however, " vouchers should be provided for Sardinian citizens that guarantee a price they can and must pay for the whole year".
AEROITALIA
The conference was also attended by Gaetano Intrieri, CEO of Aeroitalia , a carrier that is just one year old and focuses its business on transport for the two major islands, Sardinia and Sicily.
«We have very little to do with expensive flights – he claims -, we have never speculated on summer routes. On Olbia-Linate, where we have exclusive rights, we have never exceeded 240 euros, because we understand that it is a continuous service even for non-residents. If you manage planes well, even with 200 euros you can fly well and make some money ».
On hiring: " We have hired 80 ex Meridiana but we want to hire many more, if one day we have the possibility to manage the hangars in Olbia we will reach 350 ".
Intrieri announces that the carrier is also aiming for Cagliari and will participate in the next call for territorial continuity : "The Italian islands are the cornerstones of our network, all our aircraft are based there".
He too intervened on the merger of the Sardinian airports: «The airports on an island must be controlled by the public: Sicily and Sardinia cannot fail to have at least a minority control of the shareholding . The single company would bring advantages in terms of cost rationalization, but we need to understand how to do it».
«NO TO PRIVATIZATION»
They are not backing down a millimeter on the no to privatization and the merger of Confcommercio and Federalberghi, which organized the conference.
«Cagliari airport has net profits equal to a third of its turnover - said the president of Federalberghi Sud Sardegna, Fausto Mura -, it has been renovated, updated and built with the money from our pockets and financed annually in co-marketing operations by the Sardinia Region. An airport that has always capitalized on profits, which have never gone outside Sardinia - he adds -, now finds itself with the real risk that speculative funds want to have a gift to drain the profits and take them to Milan and New York. That is, taking away profits in a region of Europe to give them to European and world markets. This is legal but it doesn't seem right at all to me."
« The theme of the merger is substantial because it is a villainy - underlines the president of Confcommercio Cagliari, Alberto Bertolotti -. We should stop building fans, but make a 'sacred alliance' between all political parties, trade organizations, between all decision makers and all those who have to build the model for the future. So far it hasn't worked and it's there for all to see."
(Unioneonline/L)
